Discover Jesus: I AM The Resurrection And The Life
“I Am: Discovering Jesus” part 5
“I Am the Resurrection and the Life”
“I Am the Bread of Life”
“I Am the Light of the World”
“I Am the Door”
“I Am the Good Shepherd”
John 11:25 (NLT) Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life.”
John 11:1-3 (NLT) A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. 2 This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. 3 So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.”
John 11:4-6 (NLT) But when Jesus heard about it He said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” 5 So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, 6 He stayed where He was for the next two days.
“Jesus, where are you?”
Sometimes, Jesus doesn’t do what we want Him to do—when we want Him to do it—because He’s working on something BETTER.
Sometimes, Jesus leads us through a “mourning process”—a process where something in us has to DIE, so something greater can be RAISED.
What if Jesus is delaying not because He doesn’t love me, but because He loves me too much to settle for less than His BEST?
God’s timing and His plan are always perfect.
John 11:7 (NLT) Finally, He said to His disciples, “Let’s go…”
John 11:11-15 (NLT) Then he said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go and wake him up.” 12 The disciples said, “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will soon get better!” 13 They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was simply sleeping, but Jesus meant Lazarus had died. 14 So He told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15 And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe. Come, let’s go see him.”
1. Who’s the “you” He’s referring to?
2. What does He want us to “really believe?”
3. Could He be trying to change how we see Him?
John 11:17 (NLT) When Jesus arrived at Bethany, He was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days.
John 11:18-19 (NLT) Bethany was only a few miles down the road from Jerusalem, 19 and many of the people had come to console Martha and Mary in their loss.
John 11:20-21 (NLT) When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet Him. But Mary stayed in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only You had been here, my brother would not have died.
John 11:22-26 (NLT) But even now I know that God will give You whatever You ask.” 23 Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.” 25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in Me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in Me and believes in Me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”
John 11:27-35 (NLT) “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed You are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.” 28 Then she returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, “The Teacher is here and wants to see you.” 29 So Mary immediately went to Him. 30 Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met Him. 31 When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep. So they followed her there. 32 When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at His feet and said, “Lord, if only You had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within Him, and He was deeply troubled. 34 “Where have you put him?” He asked them. They told Him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Then Jesus wept.
John 11:38-39 (NLT) Jesus was still angry as He arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. 39 “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.”
John 11:40 (NLT) “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believed?”
Jesus is saying, “Martha, I’m not just trying to meet your expectations—I’m trying to exceed them. I’m trying to reveal My glory.”
John 11:41-44 (NLT) So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank You for hearing Me. 42 You always hear Me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe You sent Me.” 43 Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”
Luke 24:1-6 (NLT) But very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 3 So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes. 5 The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? 6 He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead!