25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
25 Jesus said to her,
Now Jesus challenged Martha to go beyond her understanding of bodily resurrection in the last day. He did not deny her understanding of a future resurrection, but here He went further than that doctrine. He now focused her attention on Himself.
The import of what Jesus was about to say is this: “Martha, you missed the point. I did not mean that your brother will rise from the dead at the end times. I can raise him from the dead right now.”
“I am the resurrection and the life.
Jesus now made another of His great “I am” statements. This is the fifth of seven claims to deity by use of “I am” in the gospel of John (Jn 6:35; 8:12; 10:9; 10:11; 14:6; 15:5). Jesus’ point here was that He is the source of bodily resurrection and eternal life. No one else has this ability. This statement developed the idea of resurrection far beyond Jewish understanding current at the time.
The resurrection is one manifestation of eternal life; it is something that comes from the Lord Himself. Jesus is what people need. Jesus asserted here that He has the power to raise people from the dead and give them life. No other mortal could ever make this statement.
By “resurrection” Jesus annulled death; by “life” He gave the quality of God’s life and that without end. “Life” here is the life of God, eternal life. He is the One who causes someone to live into eternity.
He who believes in Me,
Belief is the only requirement for possessing eternal life. Jesus will raise only believers to eternal life.
though he may die,
The believer is here pictured as dead physically at some point.
he shall live.
Jesus here compared physical death with spiritual life, eternal life in glory. This is the life lived in heaven for the believer. Even though a believer dies physically, he will eternally live spiritually. He or she will possess eternal life in glory.
PRINCIPLE:
Jesus’ resurrection makes the way for eternal life.
APPLICATION:
All “I am” statements by Jesus have to do with Jesus as the Life Giver. He does not merely give life, but He is life itself.
Jesus was not a prophet waiting for the final resurrection; He was the resurrection, the resurrection One. He is the living resurrection. The power of resurrection rests in His person (Php 3:10). Jesus’ personal victory over death affords our bodily resurrection (1 Co 15:21-22, 44).
Cults like to use passages in the Psalms and Ecclesiastes to present the idea that there is no life beyond the grave. Jesus “brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Ti 1:10). He will raise the human body of the person who believes on Him. There is life after death.
Jesus is first the “resurrection” and then the “life.” The resurrection of Christ will lead to eternal life. He Himself is the source for this. Because He lives, we too shall live. He conquered death.
Temporary separation between the soul and body in death will not interrupt everlasting life that began at the point of belief.
thank you very much this commentary
Hi, is there something called “resurrection life”? Referring to the type of life that Jesus had when He rose out of the grave and which every born again believer now has?
Is it true that Jesus was then the first to have this type of new life, and therefore He was the first to be born again and the first of the “new creation”?
I’m testing what I have been taught. Thank you for all your help!
C, yes there is the resurrection life of the believer but it is not how the name it and claim it advocates say it is.
Note Romans 8:11. Belief in the fact that God is able to bring life out of death is an essential element of faith. The Father brought resurrection life out of the grave of Christ. When we were born again it was the manifestation of this same power; out of the death of our sin came the life of the new creation in Christ Jesus (out positional status before God because of the work of Christ). There is here nothing short of the believer’s triumph in living moment by moment the resurrection life of the Lord Jesus Christ. You may want to go to my study of this verse and in the following studies of this verse here: https://versebyversecommentary.com/2012/06/06/romans-811/
The fact of the indwelling Christ is the guarantee that all of the power which was put forth in raising Jesus from the dead is now available to keep down the power of death that is in us by nature and to keep victorious the life that is the very life of Christ in His resurrection. The Holy Spirit is presented to us as the Spirit of resurrection life. This links Him with the truth that is presented in the second verse of this chapter where we read that “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death.” God is multiplying every means of expression to bring to us the wonder of the life that is now ours, and to help us see how infinite and eternal that life and power are for us. We know that the Holy Spirit is within us, and that our bodies have become His temple. We have not been granted some idle power. The one who dwells in us is none other than the Spirit of the Heavenly Father, the Almighty God who raised up Jesus from the dead. This is the power that Paul wanted to engage in Php 3:10.
Thank you!
Do you perhaps have a teaching on the name it claim it (word of faith)?
To help understand where they are in error?
C, you may want to view this one-hour video (of a 2 & 1/2 version): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocHm18wUAGU
C, here is a resource that critiques the word of faith movement with many articles.
Thank you! Did you mean to add another link to the resource?
Sorry C, here is the resource: http://www.apologeticsindex.org/4914-word-faith-movement
Watched that video, thank you it’s amazing!