LIVING AGAIN

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

On His arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.

Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet Him, but Mary stayed at home.

“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give You whatever You ask.”

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that You are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

John 11:17-27

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Perhaps one of the things that plagues people in life more than anything is this looming truth:

Everyone will die and doesn’t know in advance when it will happen.

As I approach my sixtieth birthday, I have found myself thinking more about this. I’ve been blessed to live a long life and feel there are still things left to do but what does the future really hold? Should I get engaged in long term planning when I don’t know if there will even be a long term?

Maybe you share these same feelings.

Well, thanks be to God that He sent Jesus from heaven to earth to help us deal with the truth of ever pending death. For through Him, we need not worry about death anymore because it isn’t the end but rather just the beginning of a new eternal chapter, a chapter that finds us living again.

As we look at our scripture passage today, we find that Jesus’ good friend Lazarus had met death head on and had been laying in a tomb for four days by the time Jesus arrived on the scene in Bethany with His disciples in tow.

You’ll remember from the opening verses of this chapter that Jesus had been around the area of Aenon, near Sigil, where John the Baptist had been baptizing in the early years. It was there that Jesus received a message from Martha and Mary, Lazarus’s sisters, that he was ill. We read where Jesus did not depart immediately but delayed for two days before heading south.

As today’s passage opens, we find Jesus arriving in Bethany where He was met by Martha who told Him this:

“Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give You whatever You ask.”

We get a sense here that Martha fully realized the power that Jesus possessed, a healing power that she feels would have been able to restore her brother from the brink of death if Jesus had just been there sooner. Note that she understands the special relationship between Jesus and God, believing that Jesus could gain anything He asked for from His Father.

But even as deep as her faith was in Jesus, she couldn’t have expected this response from Him:

“Your brother will rise again.”

Trying to make sense of Jesus’ words, Martha believed He meant that her brother would be resurrected on the last day but Jesus sought to clarify His words and let her know that living again was possible for anyone who would simply place their belief in Him as Savior.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Jesus wanted Martha to fully understand that living again was only possible through Him, the One who was the resurrection and the life. And when someone believed in Jesus as Savior, they would live even if they die or as He put it another way, they would really never die. We read that after He makes this statement to Martha, He simply asks her, “Do you believe this?” to which Martha replied:

“Yes, Lord. I believe that You are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

Martha believed. She believed Jesus was the One the prophets had foretold of, the Messiah and Son of God who would be sent to save and deliver His people.

And with that, the stage was set for Jesus to perform one of His greatest miracles to date, the resurrection of His good friend. Martha would soon see Jesus’ words come to life through His actions.

In today’s message, I believe Jesus poses the same question to us as He tells us:

“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

For through a simple belief in Jesus as the One God sent to save will result in no one dying when this temporary worldly life is over but rather living again forever.

I pray you will be counted in that number with me.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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