When Jesus said that he is “the resurrection and the life” that day outside the little village of Bethany, he spoke words that change the world. It’s a powerful truth, and the whole event is packed with meaning.
I have read those words at many funerals. I might read them at yours. But the news that Jesus is the resurrection and the life is something you need to hear now, in this life, before the end.
And it’s good news, if you’ll hear it right and respond truly.
These notes accompany a sermon on YouTube delivered at Bromborough Evangelical Church Wirral in July 2025. You can find more in the series in our Sermon Index.
Trust the Lord’s goodness (1-16)
Last time we ended chapter 10 with Jesus far from Jerusalem, up in the hills to the north east of the country.
And while he’s there, a messenger arrives from his friends Mary and Martha: Read John 11:3.
Now Jesus knew what was happening and why: Read John 11:4.
Obviously, we know that Lazarus did die – but that was never going to be the end. In what follows, Jesus the Son of God would be glorified. As a result, the Father who sent him would be glorified too. But because God is glorious in himself, this whole event is to display his glory to you. It’s a deliberately public display.
The next two verses are a bit surprising at first: Read John 11:5-6.
Get that? He loved them, so he didn’t go to heal Lazarus. Why? Because it’s far, far more important for you to see the glory of God displayed in Jesus than for Lazarus to be healed.
Jesus on mission
When he says they’re off to Judea again, his disciples are aghast! Read John 11:9.
But Jesus has a mission to do and he will do it while he has time and opportunity. His personal intent is seen in John 11:11 [read]. He describes “Our friend” (not a surprise that if he’s Jesus’ friend then he was the disciples’ friend too) and then says “I’m on my way” – it’s always his mission.
The disciples are bit slow on the uptake when Jesus says Lazarus has “fallen asleep”. Read John 11:14-15.
It’s a four day journey to get to Bethany, so Jesus’ knowledge is supernatural. He is completely in charge of the whole event in every way. So Lazarus has died, and somehow Jesus is glad for his disciples that he didn’t heal the man. Why? “So that you may believe” – the same point as before: It’s more important that you believe in Jesus than one man be healed, even from death.
And yet we must recognise that Lazarus suffered illness. He really did die; his sisters buried him, and grieved his loss. You really need to see Christ’s glory if you’re going to find any comfort in all that sickness, death, and grief.
Meanwhile, there’s Thomas: Read John 11:16.
Don’t read that negatively. It’s faith, really. He doesn’t know how things will end, but he’s ready to follow Jesus. It turns out to be a very good decision!
Jesus is the resurrection and the life (17-22)
Read John 11:17.
What’s the significance of four days? There was a Jewish superstition that someone’s spirit lingered around a body for 3 days. More significantly, a body would begin to decompose after 3 days: You can be sure that Lazarus was very dead.
It seems the family were well-known, and being only 2 miles from Jerusalem lots of people had come to comfort the sisters. You’d also be expected to hire wailing women to lead the mourning, so there were lots of people around.
Martha is first to get to Jesus: Read John 11:20-21.
She’s not accusing him of failure; it’s just a simple statement of fact, even of faith. And she’s right; Jesus stayed away so that Lazarus would die. If Jesus had been nearby, he’d have healed him. Martha still has faith in Jesus: Read John 11:22.
Now what Jesus says next is deliberately ambiguous: Read John 11:23.
Martha catches a big part of what Jesus means, but not all of it because she doesn’t know what he’s about to do.
General resurrection of the dead
Read John 11:24.
- Isaiah 25:7-8 speaks of how God will “will swallow up the burial shroud… swallowed up death once and for all…”
- Isaiah 26:19 “Your dead will live; their bodies will rise… and the earth will bring out the departed spirits.”
- Daniel 12:2 “Many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to eternal life, and some to disgrace and eternal contempt.”
So Martha had that hope in her heart that she would see Lazarus again.
The New Testament fleshes that out more fully. Everyone who ever lived will rise again. You will. You’ll rise physically, with a new body. If you have known faith in Christ in this life, he will take you to be with him in joy and bliss on a new earth, forever. But if you have rejected him in this life then he will reject you on that day. You will experience what Revelation calls the “second death,” thrown into the Lake of Fire, forever.
And so what Jesus says next takes Martha’s partial understanding onto a whole new level – centred on Jesus himself.
“I am the resurrection and the life”
Read John 11:25-26.
Jesus says he’s the resurrection and the life.
They’re not quite the same thing, so he explains:
- “I am the resurrection… The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live.” Martha believed that there would be a general resurrection, and Jesus is making it clear that it is he who will make it happen.
- “I am… the life. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” Everyone will rise, but many will experience a second death in the Lake of Fire. But everyone who lives in Christ, who believes in him, will never die. If you trust in Jesus for your eternity, your eternal life is life with him: And that has already begun. So you will rise, even if you die, to live forever with him.
“Do you believe this?” he asks. See what he’s done, though?
He has taken general thoughts of life after death, of resurrection, and focussed them all entirely on himself. You can have no notion of life after death, of eternal life, of heaven without coming to terms with Jesus.
Martha’s knowledge was partial, but correct: Read John 11:27. That’s why he is the resurrection and the life.
Share the Lord’s heart (28-37)
Next, Jesus speaks with Martha’s sister, Mary. She goes out from the house to go to Jesus and the crowd of mourners follow her. Read John 11:32.
She’s more demonstrative than Martha, but she says the same thing. It’s as if their grief is amplified by the knowledge that Jesus could have done something if only he’d been there.
Jesus’ emotions come on display for us here. It’s a small side-note, but men: Look at Jesus here. The idea that ‘real men don’t cry or show emotion’ is nonsense. The greatest man that ever lived puts his heart on full show here – and you’d be wise to do the same.
Anger and grief
Read John 11:33-35.
The phrase “he was deeply moved” is helpful, but the NLT translates it more helpfully still: 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.
Why was he so affected, if he knew what he was about to do? We need to pry a little into his emotions.
First, he was angry (“a deep anger welled up within him”).
What was he angry at?
- Surely he was angry at the sin and death that had brought such misery and pain.
- But he was also angry at the sheer hopelessness of unbelieving grief. Grief without hope of a resurrection is denial of God himself.
Who hasn’t been at a wishy-washy funeral and heard all sorts of nonsense about a “better place”, or “at peace now” for someone who didn’t know God?
It should make you angry – it’s empty and false.
But in addition to his anger, secondly Jesus was grieving. Not for Lazarus, obviously.
But the whole scene made him so sad about the pain in the world: He could not help but weep for the sadness around him.
Old Testament examples of the heart of God
In Isaiah 15, God pronounced judgment on Moab. He was angry at their sin, idolatry, and rejection of God.
- But he said, “My heart cries out over Moab” – it grieved him (Isaiah 15:5).
- As judgment came to Jazer, a city in Moab, the people suffered terribly: Yet God said, “I weep in the weeping of Jazer” (lit. translation of Isaiah 16:9)
- When Israel came under judgment time after time, feeling the anger of God at their sin, how did God feel? Isaiah 63:9 says: In all their suffering, he suffered.
The Lord is never provoked to love; it’s his natural disposition. But your sin does provoke his wrath, and in wrath he feel grief at the pain that sin brings.
Share his heart
Many here have been at the funerals of loved ones. You’ve felt that same mix of anger and grief:
- Anger: This isn’t right; this isn’t how things should be.
- Grief: The utter sadness of loss.
So to those who grieve even now, just look at the Lord’s heart: Every ounce of anger you have felt, every drop of pain, he felt the same. More than sympathy; he felt the same.
Jesus’ delay for Lazarus meant death – but with a huge intent for good that no-one but Jesus could understand. Lazarus and his sisters all suffered without knowing why. And you might never know why.
But because Jesus is the resurrection and the life you don’t need to grieve like those who have no hope. Rather, in your grief, cling to him, fall at his feet. Cling to your God in all his rich compassion and resurrection power.
And remember: The Lord’s heart is moved in anger and grief towards all suffering – even the suffering of punishment for sin. He takes no pleasure in the death of anyone.
So situations like Ukraine or the Middle East stir him. As does knife crime, scallies on electric scooters causing havoc, or greed and injustice in high places.
It’s right that his people share the Lord’s heart, but beware:
- Anger without compassionate grief is just judgmental.
- And grief without anger can be just empty sentiment.
Growth in godliness will feel both anger and grief at the things that are wrong with this world: Check your heart’s responses, and go back to Christ for his work in you.
Christ glorifies his Father in his heart – and yet we still haven’t got to the greatest moment:
Grasp the Lord’s Glory (38-44)
Read John 11:38-39. For all Martha’s genuine trust and love for Jesus, she can’t understand what he’s about to do.
Jesus’ next words to her and then in prayer are hugely instructive: Read John 11:40-42.
Notice his focus is on the displayed glory of God. It’s all so dramatic, and visible, and public. There’s a crowd. They’re only 2 miles from Jerusalem – this is going to be huge.
In praying so publicly, he knows his action will glorify the Father, even as the Father glorifies him.
And then the moment comes: Read John 11:43-44.
A dead man heard Jesus’ voice and obeyed! He rose! It’s sometime suggested that Jesus had to call Lazarus by name or else the whole graveyard would have emptied! Such is the power in Jesus’ voice. So Lazarus shuffled out, still wrapped in his grave clothes.
The moment is earth-shattering. This man Jesus was truly sent by the Father. He is truly the resurrection and the life. That is his glory. Grasp it!
And note again the prayer: Read John 11:42 again.
Believe
And it’s written down here so that you will believe.
- Stop believing that there is no such thing as life after death. Stop believing Jesus was just a good man or religious leader.
- Start believing that he is the Son of God, that he is the resurrection and the life over all humanity.
- Trust him for your life and death.
- Repent of the sin that would land you in the Lake of Fire; come to the God who came to you to save you.
- Ask him for his forgiveness, and he will grant you life in Christ, with Christ forever.
He is the resurrection and the life: The one who will raise his people is the very life that they are raised to enjoy!
Know him and follow him now and forever; he invites you.
He grieves your sin and he came to save. Turn to him today.