The sermon, titled 'Jesus the Resurrection and the Life,' delivered by Jason Dohm, focuses on John 11:17-27 and the story of Lazarus. It explores the significance of Jesus' deliberate delay in visiting the sick Lazarus, which ultimately serves to glorify God and demonstrate Jesus' divine power. The sermon emphasizes that Jesus' statement, 'I am the resurrection and the life,' is a profound declaration of his divine nature and his role as the source of both physical and spiritual life. Through this declaration, Jesus is not just a teacher of resurrection but its very source. The sermon highlights the importance of faith, as seen in Martha's interaction with Jesus, where she expresses both regret over her brother's death and hope in Jesus' power. The sermon also explains the distinction between physical death, which believers will experience, and spiritual death, which they will not. Old Testament references are used to bolster the idea of resurrection, showing that physical death is not the end for believers. The sermon concludes with applications for grieving with hope and understanding the mixture of right and wrong understanding in our faith journey.

Our sermon text for today is John chapter 11 verses 17 through 27. I'm going to start reading at the beginning of the chapter. Please follow along. Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.

Therefore the sister sent to him saying, Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick. When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of Man may be glorified through it." Now, Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, so when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was. Then after this, he said to the disciples, let us go to Judea again. The disciples said to him, Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone you, and are you going there again?' Jesus answered, "'Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.

But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him. These things he said, and after that he said to them, Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go, that I may wake him up. Then his disciples said, Lord, if he sleeps, he will get well. However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that he was speaking about taking rest and sleep. Then Jesus said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe.

Nevertheless, let us go to him. And then Thomas, who is called the twin, said to his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him. So when Jesus came, he found that he had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away, And many of the Jews had joined the women around Mary and Martha to comfort them concerning their brother. Now, Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him, but Mary was sitting in the house.

Now, Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God God will give to you Jesus said to her your brother will rise again Martha said to him I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day Jesus said to her I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?

She said to him, Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ the Son of God who is to come into the world And the Lord bless the reading of his word The title of the sermon this morning is Jesus the resurrection and the life You can tell I didn't waste much creativity on the sermon title. It's right out of our text. Last week we began four weeks here in John chapter 11 about the resurrection of Lazarus. We were introduced to this family from the town of Bethany. Bethany is a town on the doorstep of Jerusalem.

We find out in our text this week in verse 18 that it's about two miles from Jerusalem. This is going to be very important because this happens in such close proximity to Jerusalem that the Jewish leaders are going to be guilty for not believing this because many, many Jews actually went to see for themselves that Lazarus has been raised from the death. This is such a stunning proof that Jesus is who he said he is. As we began this text, these two sisters, Mary and Martha, are very concerned about their brother, their brother Lazarus. He's deathly ill.

So they send word to Jesus. Jesus tells his disciples when he hears that this man who Jesus loved, Lazarus, was deathly ill, that he said that this wouldn't end in death. Now we know as we work through the chapter that there is going to be a dead body in the chapter. Lazarus is going to die, but it's not going to end in death. The real purpose of this is for the glory of God.

The Son of God would be glorified by showing that He is God by calling this dead body forth from the tomb. In verse 14, Jesus said, Lazarus is dead. In verse 15, the next verse, He said, I'm glad for your sakes that I wasn't there. I'm glad that I wasn't there to heal him so that he would die Even though this would be a grief of course to Lazarus who had to go through dying and for his sisters who had to go through this experience of having their brother die. Jesus knew that it would Make His disciples ready to turn the world upside down.

Jesus has more in view than just what's happening in my little family. We certainly learned that from last week's text and through the chapter. Thank heavens Jesus has more in view than just my life. He actually wants to show himself as an all-glorious, all-sufficient God by his dealings with us in life. So he was actually glad that he wasn't there to heal Lazarus.

He actually delayed on purpose a couple of days so that he would die and be in the tomb a good long time. That really brings us to the text that we are studying this week. As we go to the text, let's ask the Lord to help us by praying. Jesus, we believe the text that is before us, that you are the resurrection and the life, that the end of our physical life is not the end of the story for any of us. But that we will rise again to be judged by you, an all-knowing judge.

And that for those who have forsaken any trust in ourselves, any trust in self-righteousness that we've turned our backs on that and laid hold of what you did when you died on the cross by faith that will live forever in you. I thank you for the glory of your gospel and the privilege that it is just to take your gospel on my lips. I pray that you would bless us and help us as we work our way through this text. You are the resurrection and the life. We worship you.

You are worthy of all of our worship, of all of our affection. Pray that you would have our worship, and that you would have our affection now. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. I'd like to begin by, as we subdivide the text into smaller portions to look at verses 17 through 19. So hopefully you still have your finger in John chapter 11 and let's look at 17-19.

Follow along as I re-read those verses. John chapter 11 verse 17. So when Jesus came, he found that he, Lazarus, had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away, And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. In these verses we have a dead and buried body and A multitude of mourners.

So if you are taking notes on the handout and you are filling in blanks as you take notes on the handout, the blanks are body and mourners. A dead and buried body. Lazarus has been in the tomb four days when Jesus arrives. And a multitude of mourners. Those who have come to comfort Mary and Martha and to mourn alongside them.

Jesus and his disciples approach Bethany and they find that Lazarus has been in the tomb already for four days. The Jews didn't embalm their dead. We embalm our dead which makes the body decompose much less rapidly. The Jews didn't do that and they are in this warm climate And so they often buried their dead the same day. This is probably what is happening here, or what has happened here in John chapter 11, that they buried Lazarus the same day.

In Acts chapter 5, when God strikes Ananias dead for lying to the Holy Spirit, they immediately take him out and bury him. That's just one example from the Bible where in this really warm climate where they don't embalm the dead, they are burying the same dead. So Lazarus has been in the tomb. Like With Jesus, Lazarus' tomb is a cave. For Jews, typically, a tomb would not be like us.

We dig a hole six feet down and we put the body in the ground. That would not have typically been what the Jews did. They would have either taken a cave and made it ready for a body or more bodies, or more than one body, or they would have actually carved a crevice out of stone to make it ready and then they would put a large stone to seal the tomb. We'll find out later, I think it's next week or the week after in our text, we'll find out that this actually was a cave like it was for the body of Jesus. So this is typical for Jewish burials to convert a cave into a tomb and then to put a stone at the mouth of the cave.

We learn that many Jews have come to mourn with and comfort the family. So it's not just Mary and Martha who are here. There are many who are here. On the notes page I've set a multitude. I don't know whether that's overstating it or not.

It's not just the family. There are many who have come to mourn with and to comfort Mary and Martha, these sisters, over the death of their brother. When you read the commentators on this text, there is lots of commentary around Jewish customs associated with Jewish funerals and Jewish burials. Like, they often had professional mourners. So you would actually pay women to come in and wail over the dead.

They were doing that for money. Funerals weren't a one hour event, it would be a multi-day event. So in John chapter 2 we had the wedding at Cana. Jewish weddings were a multi-day, maybe up to a week event. Jewish funerals were likewise.

They had these long events for weddings and funerals. So the commentators say a lot about Jewish customs. However, we don't need any of that. First of all, none of that is in the text. You don't have professional mourners in the text.

We don't know how long the funeral and those things lasted. However, we don't need any knowledge about Jewish customs. This is Just like us. When someone dies among us, family and friends gather to mourn with us over our dead and to console us over the loss that we've experienced. So this is not culturally specific to the Jews at all.

If one of us died, we would be around to mourn with and comfort the one who had suffered the loss. This is exactly what we are seeing in our text. The big point is this. There are many, many witnesses on hand for what Jesus is going to do. God has providentially arranged, God who is the King of all of life's circumstances has made it so that there are many people here, probably many from Jerusalem.

Remember, Bethany is just a village on the doorstep of Jerusalem. There are probably many from Jerusalem. In fact, that becomes evident as we work our way through the chapter, who have come and who will be eye witnesses to Lazarus coming forth, formerly dead, no longer dead, wrapped in grave clothes, coming out of the grave. So there will be many eye witnesses to this and that's how God wanted it, that's how God arranged it. Now moving on back to John chapter 11 to the next subsection verses 20 through 22.

Follow along as I read. Now Martha as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him, but Mary was sitting in the house. Now Martha said to Jesus, Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you. In these verses we have a regretful yet hopeful Martha.

So if you're taking notes on the handout and filling in blanks, it's regretful and hopeful. A regretful yet hopeful Martha. This is the state in which we find Martha in our text. Martha hears that Jesus is coming and she is out the door like a shot. She doesn't stay at home waiting for Jesus to come to her.

She hears that Jesus is approaching and she goes immediately to him. She and her sister Mary had sent for Jesus, hopeful that Jesus could do something for their very, very sick brother. They had been waiting for him to come and he died. Lazarus died before Jesus came and then days went by even after they had put his dead body in the tomb and he hasn't come. From our text today we can see that she is clearly eager to be with and to interact with Jesus.

She wants to be with Jesus and she wants to say something to Jesus. She wants to interact with Jesus. We can tell Martha's disposition because when she hears that Jesus and his disciples are approaching, she is out the door like a shot. To me that says something very evident about her disposition. She is eager to be with Jesus.

She is eager to interact with Jesus. I would say we can't really tell with Mary. The commentators, I think, waste a lot of ink on talking about what they think about Mary's disposition. I would encourage us to stay on neutral with Mary. Not with Martha.

I think there are things in the text that would tell us. She's eager to be with Jesus and interact with Jesus. With Mary, it just says that she sits in the house. It's not really clear whether she even heard that Jesus was on the way. But with Martha we know.

Martha says to Jesus in verse 21, Lord, If you had been here, if you had just been here, my brother would not have died. By the way, this is in next week's text, not today's text, but Mary is going to say exactly the same words, exactly with no deviations next week in our text in verse 32. So, these sisters are of one mind. If Jesus had just been there, Lazarus would still be alive because they know that Jesus is mighty and able to save and able to heal. Here's what Matthew Henry says about what Martha says in the text.

And I totally agree with Matthew Henry. I think he hits the nail on the head here. Matthew Henry says this, We are apt to add to our trouble by fancying what might have been. If such a method had been taken, such a physician employed, my friend had not died. Which is more than we know.

And what good does it do? When God's will is done, our business is to submit. Right on Matthew Henry. Let's break down what he says here. He's talking about the if only game.

If only Jesus had been here. Matthew Henry calls it, fancying what might have been. If we had just tried this, if we had just called this doctor instead of that doctor, Our friend would not be dead. And Matthew Henry says, which is more than we know. That's true.

You don't know. You're guessing. You don't know that method would have worked or that doctor would have had the cure. You don't know. It's right to call upon God and to use our minds to employ the best ideas for good, but when what has happened has happened, The what-if game is a bad game.

Matthew Henry is saying that. We would get that from this text too. Matthew Henry had never said a word. We would still get that from this text. The if only game is a bad game after the fact.

Because we don't really know what would have happened. All we know is that God is king of everything and if it happened, even if it was hard, that he wanted it to happen and he is able to use it for good. That is what Christians need to know. But before the fact, yes pray. But before the fact, do your best.

Use the Beth-Message. But afterwards, don't play the if-only game. Afterwards, know that a king who can do whatever he wants to do has decided to do something different than you would have done for reasons that are known to him and that he's wiser than you. He knows better than you. He does better than we would do.

Matthew Henry warns us about the if only game and he says don't play it. It's a bad game. It's a discouraging game. The truth is, we know from the text what Martha didn't know when she said this. We know what Jesus was thinking when he knew Lazarus was sick.

From last week's text, we know for sure Jesus knew that Lazarus was deathly ill before he died, and he delayed on purpose. Jesus knew and He planned to delay. So Martha is thinking the wrong thing happened. If you were only here the right thing would have happened. Wrong.

Not true. The wrong thing didn't happen. What Jesus delayed so that it would happen, happened. That's what happened. Jesus had something else in mind.

This happens all the time in our lives. Here we are. Here we are with the blinders on. We only see what affects me, what impacts me, what I can see, what is in view for me. Jesus has no such blinders on.

Jesus is above it all, seeing it all, and actually working all of human history out to put God on display, to put himself on display as all sufficient. So sometimes he wants to bring you into grief to prove to you that he can sustain you and actually cause you to flourish in grief. So you think the wrong thing happened, but no, the right thing happened. Because God actually wants to use it in your life to prove to you that He is all sufficient. He can make you flourish in the middle of the worst hardships of life.

Here's Martha thinking the wrong thing happened to her. Had you only been here, if only, but that's wrong. Jesus had something else in mind. He had something wiser in mind. He had something better for Martha in mind.

Now at the end of this story, we're mid-story, So Martha and Mary are really sad in the middle of the story. They can't see the end of the story. But at the end of the story, do you think Martha was glad or sad that it worked out the way it worked out? They got to see their brother come out of the cave in grave clothes. Last week, Something I said last week was, chapter 11 is a chapter of growing people.

Jesus is actually working all the circumstances together so that his disciples grow. He is taking fishermen and making them men who are able to turn the world upside down. How does he do this? He brings them into hardship. He demonstrates that he can call forth long dead bodies out of the cave.

They come forth at his voice. He's turning them into world changers. How about Mary and Martha? Are they growing in the chapter? Absolutely.

How about Lazarus? Is he growing in the chapter? Think Lazarus learned a thing or two about Jesus and his all sufficiency in chapter 11? I think he did. How about the Jews who came to comfort and mourn with these sisters, but actually got a front row seat to see the dead raised you think they learned were at the end of the chapter will learn that many of them believed on Jesus and were saved this chapter 11 is a chapter of growing people but Martha doesn't stop there she does say if only you had been here my brother would not have died then she continues but even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.

Even now, even four days after burying my brother, I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you. Jesus, I know you have this special relationship with your Father and that He answers all your prayers so that whatever you ask of Him, He does for you. So, she does have regret. Few had been here, but it is regret that is mixed with hope. By the way, the Bible never tells us that we shouldn't grieve over the dead.

The Bible never teaches us to act like nothing sorrowful happened. It just tells us that even in our regret and our grief and our sorrows, that all of that is to be mixed with hope because of who Jesus is. It looks to me like Martha's hope is very vague. It doesn't look to me like Martha's expectation. Just from looking at all of chapter 12 and all of what we see from Martha is that she has a very specific expectation that Jesus is going to bodily raise Lazarus.

In fact, I think there is evidence in the text that would tell you that is not really what she expected. All she knew from hearing Jesus' words in the past and experiencing Jesus' action in the past is that he is amazing. God answers his prayers and that he can bring good out of this in some kind of way. He can help them in some kind of way even though now they are grieving for their brother. This brings us to Jesus and Jesus now speaking and this wonderful interaction with Martha.

So let's look at this last section. And lest you think this is a short sermon, I've saved most for the last section. So relax. Follow along as I read verses 23 through 27. Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again.

Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. Whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, Yes Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.

In these verses We have the fifth of seven I Am statements. So if you are taking notes on the handout and filling in the blanks, it's fifth. This is the fifth of seven, number five of seven I Am statements in the Gospel of John. Now Jesus speaks. This is the first time in the text that Jesus speaks.

And he says, your brother will rise again. And who can blame Martha for her response? Not me. Probably not you if you think about it. She says, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

So there are two things that I want to say about her response. First, she's not talking about what Jesus is talking about. She's talking about something different. She's fast forwarding to the end of world history when the dead will rise to be judged by an all knowing God. She says, yes, at the last day, At the end of world history, as world history comes to a close, I know that what you say is true, my brother will rise again.

Jesus is talking about a few minutes from now. Jesus is talking about a dead brother no longer being dead and coming forth from the grave. So first, she is not talking about what Jesus is talking about. Second, she is correct about the bodily resurrection when many weren't. In the gospel times, many religious Bible studying people or scripture studying people at the time of Jesus weren't correct in their understanding of the bodily resurrection.

You've heard of the Pharisees. They did believe in a resurrection. And you've heard of the Sadducees. And they didn't believe in spirits, in angels, or in afterlife. And In the New Testament we have examples of the Pharisees and Sadducees arguing about it.

It's no given that all Jews believed in the resurrection. Many didn't. But the Old Testament does clearly teach that the end of your physical life isn't the end of the story for you. It teaches that in many places. I'll give you three of my favorites.

Are you ready? Here are Three of my favorite Old Testament texts about the resurrection from the dead. My favorite favorite is Job 19, 25-27. Job chapter 19 verses 25-27. Here's what Job says, this is so beautiful.

Job says, for I know that my Redeemer lives. He doesn't know the name Jesus, but he is talking about Jesus in Job, which is probably the earliest book of the Bible. I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth. And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold and not another, how my heart yearns within me." Isn't that wonderful from Job chapter 19. Job fast forwards to the time when his skin is destroyed.

He is talking about after death, after he has been in the tomb a lot longer than four days and his body has been consumed by corruption. He says, in that day when All of my body has been consumed by time after death and corruption that I will see my Redeemer. My eyes will see Him and not another. And then he ends by saying how my heart yearns within me. Like I wish I was already dead and corrupted.

And that that day had come when I would see my Redeemer. Wonderful. How about Daniel chapter 12 verses 2 and 3. Daniel chapter 12 verses 2 and 3. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.

So like last week, the imagery of sleep for death. It's figurative language. Believe me, if you sleep in the dust of the earth, you're dead. That's what Daniel is saying. Daniel chapter 12 verses 2 and 3.

And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever." Daniel chapter 12 talks of death figuratively as sleep. Why? Because physical death is not the end. It is like sleep.

You wake up from sleep, you will wake up from your physical death. And Some who awake will awake to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. This is heaven and hell in Daniel chapter 12. Finally, thirdly, Hosea chapter 13 verse 14. This is actually the verse that Paul quotes in 1 Corinthians 15.

I'm going to get to that text after a while. This is later in the sermon. But for now, this is what Paul is quoting. Hosea chapter 13 verse 14. I will ransom them from the power of the grave.

God says he will ransom the dead from the power of the grave and he will redeem them from death. Martha has embraced this Old Testament teaching for her brother. She has claimed Old Testament truth for her brother. She's not talking about what Jesus is talking about, but at least she has laid hold of scripture truth and said, that's true of my brother. Yes, he will rise at the last day.

Now the I AM statement. Jesus says, I AM the resurrection and the life. There are these seven statements in the Gospel of John, I AM, and then Jesus continues to say something that Jesus uses to teach us about his identity. These are seven places in the Gospel of John where Jesus is teaching the people of God, that's me because I repented and believed in Him, Jesus is teaching me about who He really and fundamentally is. I am this.

I am that. And we are encountering the fifth one. Let me refresh your memory on the first four that we have already encountered. One, I am the bread of life. That was chapter six, verse thirty five.

Jesus is the source of life and nourishment, ongoing, perpetual, unending nourishment for His people. Jesus is the bread of life. 2. I am the light of the world. That was chapter 8, verse 12.

Jesus is the ultimate self-revelation of God. When you look at Jesus, you are seeing God as He is. He is the exact image of God. Jesus reveals God unlike any other scripture. To look upon Jesus is to look upon the fullest, completest, most wonderful revelation of God.

He is the light of the world. He brings saving revelation. What you need to know to be alive spiritually, He brought. The law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Three, I am the door.

This was chapter 10 verse 9. Jesus is the door. Jesus is the entryway into the people of God. You cannot become a member of the people of God unless you go through Jesus Christ. He is the door, not a door, the door.

You are not in God, you are not among the people of God unless you come through Jesus Christ, meaning laying hold of Him by faith and who He is and what He has done for sinners. 4. I am the Good Shepherd. Chapter 10 verse 11. He lays down his life for the sheep, but he also leads his people into green pastures and beside still waters.

He is the good shepherd. He protects his people. He feeds his people. He protects his people. And now I am the resurrection and the life.

This is very profound and very deep. I'm not sure I can get into the nooks and crannies of this one. But Jesus says that He is the resurrection and the life. What does that mean? It means that Jesus is not simply a human teacher of the resurrection.

That's what I've been doing. I'm good enough to bring up some Old Testament passages that say that there is a resurrection. So I am a human teacher of the resurrection. That is not all that Jesus is. That is not even a start of what Jesus is.

Jesus is the source of resurrection and life. There is no resurrection without Jesus. He doesn't simply resurrect. He is the resurrection. He doesn't simply bring to and sustain life.

He is life. It is bound up in Him. He is the source of it. He is the fountain of it without which there is no resurrection and there is no life. These things are in Him and only in him.

John opened his Gospel in this way. This is John 1 verses 3 and 4. John wrote this right at the beginning of his Gospel. All things were made through Him. All things were made through Jesus.

And without Him, nothing was made that was made. In Him was life. And the life was the light of man. John the Gospel writer doesn't wait five verses into his Gospel to let you, reader of the Gospel, know that life is in Jesus. In Him was life.

He is the resurrection and the life. The best commentary on the phrase, I am the resurrection and the life, not surprisingly, is Jesus' own commentary from John chapter 5. This is Jesus' commentary on his own sermon. John chapter 5. I'm going to begin in 16 and I'm going to read through 30 and I'll sprinkle some comments in along the way and let you know when I'm doing that.

John chapter 5 beginning in 16. Jesus has just healed the man who had been lame for 38 years. And he tells him to take up his mat and walk, but he healed him on the Sabbath. John chapter 5 beginning in verse 16. For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill him because he had done these things on the Sabbath.

But Jesus answered them, My Father has been working until now, and I have been working. Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. So just a comment on verse 18. They're wrong about him breaking the Sabbath. He doesn't break the Sabbath here.

But they're right about him making himself equal with God. They're dead on right about that. They understand that when Jesus calls God his Father and that when Jesus says that he is united in working with his Father even on the Lord's day that He is making Himself equal with God. They have understood that rightly. Verse 19, Then Jesus answered and said, Most assuredly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of himself but what he sees the Father do.

For whatever he does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all things that he himself does, and he will show him greater works than these that you may marvel." We are getting to the really critical relevant part to our text. Verse 21, For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

Most assuredly I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death to life." Pay close attention here in verse 25. Most assuredly, I say to you, The hour is coming and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. It's right here in John chapter 5 verse 26. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself, and has given him authority to execute judgment also because he is the Son of Man.

Do not marvel at this, For the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation. I can do nothing of myself as I hear I judge and my judgment is righteous, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the Father who sent me." Here in John chapter 5, Jesus is expanding on What he says in our text, I am the resurrection and the life. What does that mean? It means exactly what Jesus just expanded on in John chapter 5. That it is His voice that calls the spiritually dead out of their spiritual graves to be spiritually alive.

All Christians are raised from the dead. You are dead in your sins and transgressions. There is only one way for you to be made alive. Not for you to be healed, but for you to be raised from the dead by trusting in Christ. Those who are believers, those who are born again, those who have saving faith in Jesus Christ have heard His voice and He called you from your spiritual grave to be spiritually alive.

God raises the dead, Jesus is God. God the Father has granted that Jesus the Son would have life in Himself also. This is rooted in His Godness. Is that a word? Not goodness, Godness.

In Him being God fundamentally, in His nature and in His essence, He is God just like God the Father is God, just like God the Spirit is God, Jesus is God the Son. And in His Godness, he is a source of raising from the dead. He is a source of calling spiritually dead people out from their deadness and sins and transgressions under the wrath of God. And because of his work on the cross his voice calls them forth from spiritual death into spiritual life. I'm not even going to take us to John chapter 6 where Jesus says, I will raise up believers at the last day.

He says that about four times in John chapter 6. I'm just going to reference it and keep moving. But I do want us to listen to the Apostle Paul, so please turn to 1 Corinthians 15. This is all about what it means that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Not a resurrection.

Again, these word choices are important. There are not many ways to God. That's a lie. The world loves that. Sure, have Jesus as long as I can have this.

No. You are spiritually dead if you don't have Jesus. That's what the Bible teaches. If you don't want to believe that, that's fine. It is a free country.

You are free to believe whatever you want to believe. Just don't say the Bible teaches that. What the Bible teaches is that there is one way and Jesus is the way. He is the resurrection. Not a resurrection, not a life, the resurrection and the life.

He is the door. The claims of the Gospel are a continual stream of exclusive claims that do not merge with the spirit of the age that says anything will do. Anything will not do. Jesus will do. Nothing else will do.

1st Corinthians 15. Josh read verses 21 and 22 already. That's wonderful. I'm so glad that he did. And he always tells me, by the way, he's not stealing thunder.

He always says, I'm planning to do this, am I stealing thunder? First Corinthians 15, review again verses 21 and 22. For since by man came death, By man also came the resurrection of the dead. Let's look at that verse. For by sense man, little m man, a man like me, not deserving of a capital letter, by man, By Adam came death.

Sin came into the world and it permeates mankind. There's not a man or a woman or a boy or a girl who's ever been born since Adam that is not touched in every part by sin, that is not completely defiled by sin. And so we all have death coming to us. We have it coming to us. We deserve to die for our crimes, and we have many crimes not one or two or a handful We have many crimes all of which deserve the death penalty and that that came to us by sin coming into the world by man by Adam, but by man Okay, right in the middle of the sentence a capital letter.

Why a capital letter because it's a very specific man It's the God man. That's why the capital letter here, but by man also By man also came the resurrection of the dead. Verse 22, For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. If you are going to be made alive, you have to be made alive in Christ. There is no other way to be made alive.

It's His resurrection that touches off the resurrection of all the believing. It is the grounds for all the believing. That Jesus was raised from the dead gives you hope that you can be raised from the dead to glory. Now, skip to the end of the chapter, near the end of the chapter, 54 through 57. So still in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verses 54 through 57.

So when this corruptible, our bodies that will die, this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written death is swallowed up in victory." That is a quote from Isaiah 25. Death is swallowed up in victory. Now the quote of what I read to you earlier, Hosea 13-14, Oh Death, where is your sting? Oh Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life. He gives us the victory. The victory over physical death and eternal death that is due to the wicked is through Jesus Christ. Why? Because He is the resurrection and the life.

That's why. It's given Him the victory. It is made it so that he can taunt death in the grave. There is no other way to read verse 55 than that God is taunting death in the grave because Jesus Christ is victorious over it, so he taunts it as a conquered foe. Death is Jesus' conquered foe.

The grave is Jesus' conquered foe. He's going to prove it as we work through chapter 11 and he calls forth that dead body out of the cave. Listen to Revelation 1 verse 18, just listen to it. This is the introduction to Jesus in the book of Revelation. Revelation 1.18, I am he who lives and was dead and behold I am alive forevermore.

Amen and I have the keys of Hades and death." We actually sang that in the hymn this morning. When I'm picking music, I almost 100% pick music completely blind to the text. It usually ends up looking like I picked these songs on purpose. I almost never do. But we sang these words this morning.

Jesus has the keys of Hades and death. He owns them. He opens them and shuts them. He locks them and unlocks them. He is the resurrection and the life.

The Expositors Bible Commentary says that the next phrases in our text, and now we're back in John Chapter 11, after wandering for a bit, we're back in our text in John Chapter 11. Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life, and then the Expositors Bible commentary says that the phrases that come after that describe the resurrection and then the life sequentially, and I totally agree. I think that's exactly right. So let's work our way through this, starting in verse 25. So Hopefully you have your finger right in John chapter 11, verse 25.

Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. He is describing what it means that he is the resurrection. Though you may die, though you will experience physical death, he shall live. And what is the immediate context?

Lazarus and his dead body. That's the immediate context here. Lazarus did die. Jesus says he will live. It has to be physical death that is in view here because Lazarus is the case in point.

He is the immediate context. And believers don't die in that way. If you make this spiritual death, this falls apart. This doesn't fit with the Gospel. Once you believe, then you don't die if we're talking spiritually.

But believers die physically. They do. You're going to die physically if the Lord doesn't return first. And then what? If you're a believer, You live unto glory.

You live an eternity face to face with your Savior. For the believer, physical death is not the end. Going back to last week's text, verse 11, He says, our friend Lazarus sleeps. Again, why does the Bible use that figurative language? Because death is not it.

We will awake. There is a bodily resurrection. Now the beginning of verse 26, And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Whoever lives and believes in Jesus, saving faith in Jesus, shall never die. Wait a minute, The end of the last verse just said you'll die.

You're going to die. Now it says that you'll never die. Well that's because the end of the last verse was talking about physical death. We're all going to die physically. Jesus is not denying that.

This is talking about spiritual death in verse 26. This is talking about eternal life. There is a phrase that will really help us to understand this. It's a phrase that you find only in the book of Revelation but you find it four times in the book of Revelation and it's the phrase second death. Second death, yes.

There is a physical death And everyone who is ever trusted in Jesus Christ is going to experience that until you get to the final day. Some people aren't going to die. Jesus is going to return and they won't experience physical death. The rest of us, for century after century, are going to experience the first death. Our bodies are going to die.

The second death is the eternal death. Don't fear the first death Christian or person. Even unbelievers, it's the second death that all of us should have our eye on. What is going to happen to us in eternity? We know what is going to happen to us on earth if Jesus doesn't return in our lifetime.

We are going to die, but what about the second death? Jesus is talking about the second death. You'll never die. You'll never taste of the second death. Why?

Because Jesus holds the keys of Hades and of death. Listen to what Jesus said in John chapter 8 verse 51. John chapter 8 verse 51, most assuredly I say to you if anyone keeps my word he shall never see death. We were talking about the second death. In that text in John chapter 8, the Pharisees thought he was talking about physical death and they challenge him on it there.

He's talking about spiritual death. Jesus concludes by asking Martha this question. Do you believe this? Martha, do you believe that I am so much more than a teacher about the resurrection and eternal life? I am not just a teacher about resurrection and eternal life.

I am the source of resurrection. I am the source of life. Do you believe that? He's drawing out a responsive faith and does he ever get it? The answer in short, Martha's answer in short is yes.

Yes, I believe that you are so much more than just a teacher about the resurrection and life that you are the source of resurrection and life. Listen again to what she says. This is our final verse. She said to him, Martha said to him, Yes Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world. This is as good as any of the confessions of faith of any of the disciples in any of the gospels.

Are you with me? Are you with me? What this woman says here in our text is as good, really better than any of the disciples who lived with Jesus non-stop for three years, saw all that he did, heard all that he said In any of the Gospel accounts, listen to Peter in Matthew 16 verse 16. The context in Matthew 16 is Jesus asks his disciples, Who do people say that I am? They give him a bunch of answers.

The people thought he was various things. And then Jesus says, Who do you say that I am? Here's what Peter says in Matthew 16, verse 16. Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. This is almost exactly the same words that Martha says in our text.

You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Or flip back to John chapter 6. You remember John chapter 6? The crowds have been swelling. Jesus is more popular and more popular and more popular, and then he begins with the hard sayings, and the crowds melt away when he says, unless you eat my body and drink my blood, you have no part in me.

People were like, oh, we didn't sign up for that. And then we get this in John chapter 6 verses 66 through 69. From that time many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, Do you also want to go away? But Simon Peter answered him, Lord to whom shall we go?

You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God." These are again almost exactly the same words. What Jesus' disciples believed about him, Martha believed about him. Friends, this is saving faith. This is saving faith to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is to come into the world.

There are three elements to this confession. One, I believe that you are the Christ. Who is the Christ? The Christ is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament promises that God would send a Savior. God made man, sin came into the world, and God's anger burned against sin, but God didn't leave it at that.

He made Old Testament promise after Old Testament promise after Old Testament promise that he would send a savior that would provide an atonement, cleansing blood so that the stain of my sin would be washed away by the blood of a substitute, meaning somebody dying for me. I deserve to die. One who is clean would die in my place. I'm filthy. I can't even die for my own sins, let alone your sins.

But one would come who was clean who could die for my sins. And his blood could wash away the stain from all of my sins. The Old Testament makes promise after promise that God would send a Savior to deal with my sins so I didn't have to die under God's anger and suffer forever under God's anger but I could be washed in white as snow. That is who the Christ is. I believe you are the Christ too.

I believe you are the son of God. Not a son of God. Believers are sons and daughters of God. Not like that. The son of God.

Very God of very God to borrow from the ancient confessions. As God as you can get, Jesus though He is man, though He took on flesh is as God as he can get. When he says, I am the resurrection and the life, all that is bound up in his godness, in him being God. I believe not only that you are the fulfillment of all the promises to send a Savior, but that you are God. Three, I believe that you are He who is to come into the world.

When John the Baptist sent his disciples in Matthew chapter 11 to Jesus to confirm whether Jesus was or was not the Messiah, it was with this question, are you the coming one or do we wait for another? So when She says, I believe that you are He who is to come into the world. This circles right back to Jesus as the Messiah, to the one who was promised to come and deal with our sins. It's worth noting, especially since Bethany is a town that is on the doorstep of Jerusalem less than two miles from Jerusalem, that the man born blind who Jesus healed in chapter 9, chapter 10, chapter 9, was excommunicated from the synagogue for less than Martha just confessed. You understand what I'm saying?

This man was born blind, he lived all his life blind, Jesus comes and gives him his sight. He had never seen before Jesus gave him his sight. He confesses Jesus. His confession is so much less than Martha's confession and he was excommunicated. Martha believes dangerous things in these times.

Martha is willing to confess more than another man was excommunicated for. It's dangerous to believe the things that she confessed. Applications. Things that she confessed. Applications.

Three. Always grieve the death of believers with hope. Always grieve the death of believers with hope. Should we grieve? Yes.

If you feel lost, you should grieve. Should we sorrow? Yes. Sorrow is not off limits. Hopeless sorrow is off limits.

We should grieve with hope. Listen to 1 Thessalonians 4 verses 13-14. Paul addresses this very thing. But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, again this figurative language for death, those who have died, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.

It is not right for Christians to engage in hopeless grieving over believing, over believing people who died. We should always grieve the death of believers with hope. Martha models that for us in our text. She might have a regret. She might have wished that Jesus was there to heal her brother, But she is grieving for her brother with hope that Jesus can bring about good.

Number two. I'm going to make two applications because I'm already over time. I'm going to lop off the last one and do it next week. Number two, and finally, act like you understand that you have the same mixture. Act like you understand that you have the same mixture.

What mixture? Martha's mixture of wrong understanding with right understanding. Did Martha have wrong understanding or right understanding? She had both. She was wrong in thinking that it would have been best for Jesus to be there to heal her brother.

It wouldn't have been best. Jesus actually did all of this on purpose for a better purpose than she had in her mind. She didn't understand it right. And she had a wonderful understanding, a better confession than any of the disciples in the New Testament that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is to come into the world. She's a mixture of right understanding and wrong understanding.

And wrong action. Last week we went back to where in the gospels you are actually introduced to Mary and Martha. It's Luke chapter 10. And in Luke chapter 10, she's acting wrong. Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to Him and enjoying fellowship with Him.

And she's scurrying around. Martha is the one scurrying around and then she wants Mary to be pulled up from that good place of fellowship and listening to his words and Jesus is having none of it. Martha is wrong in Luke chapter 10. But here she hears that Jesus is coming and she is like a shot out the door to be with Jesus and she is trusting in him here. So is Martha right in action or wrong in action?

What day? What hour? What minute? Because she's a mixture. So I'm calling us to act like we understand that we have the same mixture in judging ourselves.

You know what? Sometimes you think wrong. Sometimes you act wrong. Now I'm not saying we should aspire to think wrong or to act wrong. We should aspire to think right and act right, of course.

But are you surprised? Do you wallow? A study of Martha would pull us away from wallowing when we found that we thought wrong. We didn't believe the right thing. We didn't do the right thing.

No wallowing. The study of Martha is the no wallowing rule. We're not surprised when we thought wrong or when we did wrong. We turn our gaze back to Jesus. That's what we do.

Instead of wallowing around in surprise and self-pity, We turn our eyes back to Jesus and we follow Him. How about judging other believers in their wrong thinking and their wrong acting. Are you surprised and do you hold it over their heads? A study of Martha would pull us away from not only wallowing in our own wrong thinking and our own wrong actions, but in holding on onto anger, contempt of other believers. We should have a community of grace here.

We're all mixed. We're all mixed. We all think wrong sometimes. We all do wrong sometimes. And we should be able to get grace from each other.

We really should. It's so important. It's so wrong to hold it over one another's heads when there's been wrong thinking and wrongdoing. Jesus is so tender towards Martha in this passage. Don't you have a different mind than Jesus towards your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Let's end there. God, thank you for your goodness. Thank you for all the truth that we encounter. Every time we open up your Word and look at it, I pray that you would press these truths on our hearts. Help us to walk before you humbly looking to you in Jesus name.

We pray amen