One of the most surreal experiences of my life was when I stood in an empty tomb in Bethany, Israel. According to tradition and archaeology, it’s most likely the tomb that once contained the body of Lazarus. Yes, the Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead was briefly laid in the tomb in which I stood!
When I think of the scene described in John 11, I can imagine it more clearly—the shape of the tomb, the sloping road where it sits, its location within the town. But most of all, this incredible miracle seems more real, concrete, and tangible. It really happened. The tomb is empty.
John calls Jesus’ miracles “signs” because they each point to something. And this sign points to something profoundly important. As Christ told Lazarus’ sister, Martha, He’s “the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). He doesn’t just have the ability to raise someone from the dead. No, He is the resurrection and the life. Authority over life and death resides in Him. As Jesus added, “Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying” (v. 25). Since Christ is the resurrection and the life, anyone who believes in Him will experience His authority over life and death. Even in death, we can know that we’ll be raised to life. Our tombs will also become empty.
Does your hope for resurrection feel real? Why or why not? How has Jesus’ resurrection changed your life?
Dear God, thank You for giving me life and that through Jesus You’ll restore my life even after death.
John 11:18–44
18 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. 20 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. 22 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?”
27 “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. 36 The people who were standing nearby said, “See how much he loved him!” 37 But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?”
38 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.”
40 Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” 41 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!”
John 11:25
I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.
