Good morning my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
This is an election year in America and that means American and global media will be filled with political jargon, much of which is not true or is distortion of truth. Years like this stir up widespread skepticism in all of us and I wonder if you find yourself doubting almost everything you hear or read, no matter the source… maybe even to the point of doubting the Bible and God?
Yesterday I left you standing in a very strange place. Outside the town of Bethany, near a small cave with Martha & Jesus and His disciples, and other people who were mourning the death of Lazarus whose dead body had been wrapped and buried in this cave four days before. Remember? Jesus had just spoken words no human being had ever even imagined speaking: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live even though they die, and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die.” (John 11:25,26)
It almost doesn’t make sense, does it? Like much of what the politicians are saying these days it sounds self-contradicting and causes us to question even common sense. Death is final, right? A person who dies is dead and their body is decomposing and should be buried quickly, right? So how can a person live even though dead? And we all know everyone dies, right? These bodies of ours are remarkable but they wear out and eventually die, so how can Jesus say, “whoever lives and believes in Me will never die”?
One of the important things the disciples learned about Jesus fairly quickly, was that often the words He spoke needed deep thought to fully understand. Also, His words were usually larger than the immediate situation. So, in this case when Jesus is talking about death, He’s challenging His listeners to think much more deeply than simply the end of the human earthly journey when a person stops breathing and their heart stops beating.
Death is the separation of our human body from our soul/spirit. God has designed humanity in His image and unlike any other living thing. (Gen. 1:26,27) We are a three-part human being. Physical body, emotional/intellectual soul and spiritual spirit. We understand ‘body’, it’s the physical part of us and when a person dies their body stops normal function and begins to decay. Yet isn’t it amazing that vital organs can be removed from a dead body, and placed into a living person, and continue to function well, even saving the life of that organ transplant recipient?
Recently a terrible auto/bike accident caused the death of a healthy young man in my neighborhood. The family made a difficult but courageous decision and some of the dead man’s organs were transplanted into THREE different living people who were in desperate need since their organs were failing, and all three people are now on their way to living healthy, normal lives! If you live in a place where such near miraculous surgeries are possible, I hope you’ve given thought and even taken legal action to being an organ donor at the time of your death, my wife and I have.
Organ transplant, however, is not what Jesus was talking about outside a cave/tomb near Bethany that day, 2000 years ago. Jesus was declaring that our soul/spirit does not die when our body dies! The soul/spirit part of us is immortal! When our body dies, our soul/spirit begins our eternal life, so even though our body is dead we are still living! Now if your mind can grasp the biological and spiritual significance of that, then can you understand some of what Jesus was saying?
But did you notice Jesus had put a condition on eternal life? Jesus said “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live even though they die…” In fact, do you see a double condition to live and never die?
First is the condition that Jesus IS the resurrection and life, and the second condition is to BELIEVE in Him! But believe WHAT about Jesus? Martha had responded to Jesus by saying: “I believe that You are the Messiah, the Son of God who was to come into the world.” (John 11:27) There it is! That truth is what someone needs to believe if they will experience the miracle of living and never dying!
It is the IDENTITY of Jesus Christ that makes eternal life possible!!
Jesus is God the Son. Jesus is the creator of everything, including every human being. Jesus sustains all life. Jesus is all powerful, even able to reverse death and restore life! (Colossians 1:15-20) Now friends, those are not political rhetoric statements, nor are they theoretical nonsense. Those are factual statements, the God who created you and me and our universe, has declared! (Isaiah 45:18-24)
But what about the billions of people who reject these statements as false or even doubt the existence of Jesus or refuse to consider the Bible anything more than a compilation of interesting literature but certainly NOT the inspired Word of God? Guess what… they are human beings created like all human beings, with their body, soul & spirit and they too, ALL of them, will live and never fully die! Really? Yes! You see Jesus was declaring that what we see as death is NOT the end for anyone! Every person who has ever lived, even if they were not born, but were alive in the womb, IS STILL ALIVE at this moment! Now think about that!! Oh, their body may be long ago dead, buried or cremated or destroyed, but they are still alive because their soul/spirit is alive!!
Of course, that immediately begs an important question: If they are dead but alive, where are they? That’s a GREAT question, and I wonder what YOUR answer is? Or what is the answer of Islam or Hinduism or Buddhism or Taoism or Catholicism or Satanism or any religion or spiritual theory found anywhere in the world? Would you agree this is one of the most fundamental, essential questions about human life and death?
This is why Jesus made the shocking statement at the cave/tomb of His dear friend Lazarus. While Jesus and His disciples had not been there when Lazarus died or when his body was wrapped and buried in this cave, Martha, Mary and many others were. They had seen Lazarus’ body go limp and then become rigid with rigor mortis. They were certain, now four days later, his body was beginning to decompose inside that cave. How do I know? Because a few moments later Jesus asked the people to ‘Take away the stone’ that was sealing up the mouth of the cave/tomb. Martha warned Jesus “But Lord, by this time there is a bad odor, for he died, and his body has been there four days.”
That all makes logical sense, doesn’t it my friends? Whether ‘roadkill’ on the side of a road, or our pet cat or dog, or even a human body… all living bodies decay at death. Jews, both then and now, try to bury a dead human body as soon as possible, hopefully within 24 hours. Thus, we assume Lazarus had been dead at least 5 days! Therefore, what Jesus said next shocked them again: “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would SEE the glory of God? Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I know that You always hear Me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, and that they may believe that You sent Me.” (John 11:40-42)
Look at the people standing around this cave/tomb. They are shocked! Jesus, in His prayer, has called Almighty God His “Father” and declared that God always heard Jesus and this declaration was to help the people believe in Him! We need to pause again and ponder. The words this man Jesus has said are either blasphemous or He’s a lunatic, an idiot and should be locked up before He hurts someone, or we are standing in the Presence of God! Which is it, my friends? WHO is this man Jesus and what authority does He have to say these things about life and death? What is your belief about THIS Jesus? What about life and death? Does Jesus have the right to speak authoritatively about life and death and life after death? What authority does He have IN your life and mine?
I’ll meet you right back here tomorrow and we’ll see what happened next, my friends!
Today’s Scripture: John 11:23-42.
Choose below to read or listen.
 |  |
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
Archived back issues of “Walking with Jesus” and other resources are available by clicking here to open our ‘home page’ (or go to HOME at upper right of this page).
Share with friends. Subscribe below for daily “Walking with Jesus”.