John 11: 1 – 44
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?”
John 11:25 – 26 New International Version
The followers of the Lord Iesus did not believe that the Lord could bring a dead person to life again.
In verse 11 of today's passage, having waited for two days after receiving news from Bethany that Lazarus, brother of Mary and Martha, was sick, our Lord finally told his disciples that Lazarus had "fallen asleep" and that He was going to wake him up.
The disciples only thought that Lazarus was literally sleeping. (v.12)
The Lord Iesus then told them plainly that Lazarus had in fact died and He asked them to go with Him to visit Lazarus.
One of the disciples, Thomas (the Twin), could only think of the Lord's invitation as going to die with Lazarus. (v.16)
Upon arriving in Bethany, Lazarus had already been dead and buried for four days. Martha came out to meet the Lord outside the village (v.30). Our Lord told her that her brother would rise again.
Martha could only believe that Lazarus will rise again in the final resurrection at the end of the world (v24).
Martha went home to tell Mary about the Lord's arrival outside the village (v.30). Mary went out to meet the Lord and told Him,
Lord, if you had been here
my brother would not have died.
Mary could only believe that the Lord Iesus was able to heal her brother from his illness and to prevent him from dying.
None of the disciples in all the above account could imagine, much less believe, that Iesus could raise Lazarus from death and bring him back to life again.
When our Lord finally called out,
Lazarus! Come out!
— it was a sign, a glorious sign, that Iesus was indeed the Resurrection and the Life.
Brothers and Sisters in the Anointed One, do you believe this? Do you believe in the Lord Iesus the Anointed One?
Nine years ago, I wrote about the verse from 1 Corinthians 15:19, "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.", link below:
