Friday 19th July
Read John 11:21-27
“‘Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.’
23 Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’
24 Martha answered, ‘I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’
25 Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?’
27 ‘Yes, Lord,’ she replied, ‘I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.’” (NIVUK)
Jesus’ delay in coming allows Him to transform their understanding of who He is. It allows all of them, brother, sisters, disciples and Jews from Jerusalem, to see His glory. It is a glory not simply revealed in another healing. It is a glory revealed fully in the conquering of death itself.
When Jesus rather ambiguously consoles Martha with the promise that her ‘brother will rise again’ (v23) she understandably confuses it with the standard Jewish hope in resurrection on the last day. There are simply no categories for her, or His disciples, to comprehend what Jesus really means.
He spells it out as fully as He can with another, and final, ‘I am’ statement. He does not refer simply to the resurrection at the judgement (though He does not deny that event either), He refers to the life and resurrection present with Him and in Him now and forever. He holds out hope for those who believe and have died, and those who have not yet died but believe. It is life both present and future – and completely incomprehensible to them!
This is easily seen in Martha’s response. She has no clue what He is saying and when asked if she believes ‘this’ – this resurrection life that is found in Him alone – she reverts back to categories with which she is familiar. This repeated failure on behalf of the early believers to grasp resurrection truths is the strongest evidence that the narratives arise very early in the life of the church. Grappling to understand what Jesus taught and did when it fell so far out of their expectations. These are faith-strengthening stories indeed!
