March 12
Bible Reading: John 11:17-26
John 11:25-26, “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”
Various tasks delayed my visit to a new hospice patient, and when I finally arrived, I discovered that the patient was dying. He clearly had little time left. The wife suggested I take her seat and asked if I’d pray for him. I read a few Scripture passages and shared some comforting words. Though I don’t recall the exact words, I prayed, asking Jesus, who died for our sins and then rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3-4), to grant comfort and strength and to walk with him on his journey. Until that moment, he’d been completely unresponsive. But when I finished my prayer, the most amazing thing happened! With the little strength he had left, he reached out his hand towards me. Minutes later, he breathed his final breath. Amidst the sorrow of his passing, it was a timely blessing. And we all marveled at how God had orchestrated things! I don’t know what transpired in the patient’s heart, but I know Jesus is the resurrection and the life, and that God is merciful, and that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16).
Christ is the resurrection and the life! That’s good news! Though death looms over us (Psalm 23:4), that message of hope makes all the difference. He is the resurrection. Death could not exist where He was, and He soon put an end to every funeral He ever attended. He called Lazarus from the tomb. He rose from His own grave, for it was “not possible for him to be held” by death’s power (Acts 2:24). “I died,” He said, “and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades” (Revelation 1:18). The resurrection and life promise is to those who believe. At the moment of saving faith, they pass “from death to life” (John 5:24). Not only does He remove from us the fear of death, He imparts life. His life flows through the lives of those who believe in Him (Romans 6:4). Have you trusted in Jesus (Romans 10:9)?
Warren Wiersbe has commented on this: “Christ is able to raise the dead and meet every need of the new life that follows that miracle, because He is both ‘the resurrection and the life.’ The Lord can move into ‘dead’ and seemingly hopeless human situations, and by His resurrection power, transform people and circumstances and infuse life that makes everything new.”
Warren Wiersbe
Christ has worked to replace the dark door of death with the shining gate of life.
I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE
“I am,” says Christ, “your glorious Head,”
May we attention give,
The Resurrection of the dead,
The life of all that live.
By faith in me the soul receives
New life, though dead before;
And he that in my name believes,
Shall live to die no more.
The sinner sleeping in his grave
Shall at my voice awake,
And when I once begin to save,
My work I’ll ne’er forsake.
Thy power and mercy first prevailed
From death to set us free;
And often since our life had failed,
Had it not been in thee.
To thee we look, to thee we bow,
To thee for help we call;
Our Life and Resurrection thou,
Our Hope, our Joy, our All.
LookingtoJesus 