Do You Believe This?
Easter April 20, 2025 John 11:25-26 Notes
On this day Easter Sunday we are reminded that Jesus claimed to be the Resurrection and the Life. He claimed that He was not only able to defeat death, but that He is the only way that we can receive this resurrection life. Where do you need this resurrection life today? Where are you experiencing death today? For there are many kinds of death: death of an unfulfilled dream; death of a relationship due to divorce or discord among former friends or family; and of course the finality of death itself. How do you face death? What do you believe about this?
Jesus not only claimed to be the resurrection and the life. He proved it! His resurrection is a fact and a matter of historical record. Do you believe this?
In the gospel of John 11:25-26, about two weeks before the first Easter Sunday, Jesus called Martha, whose brother Lazarus had died, to believe in Him as the resurrection and the life. We can experience resurrection life by believing in Jesus.
Audio
He is risen. He is risen, indeed! Do you really believe that? Do you believe this? This is something that falls a little strange to modern ears, that there would be a people that believe that there's someone who defeated the grave, who came back from the dead, but this is the basis for Christianity.
There's no other religion like this, that is based on a historical fact that even according to the Apostle Paul, if you do away with the resurrection, there is no Christianity. We serve a risen Lord. Do you believe this? You know, because people believe some pretty funny things. I asked Google about this.
There's a lot of things that aren't true that people still believe. I learned this one. I didn't even know about this one. Some people believe that birds aren't real. They think they're government drones and that they're recharging on those electric wires that you see them roosting on.
I didn't know about that.
People believe that you swallow eight spiders a year in your sleep. That’s not true. It was first printed in a magazine just to test people's believability. It went viral.
People believed it. I was told this by my grandmother, “Gary, spit out those watermelon seeds, because if you swallow them, a watermelon will grow in your stomach.” That worried me. Talking about childhood trauma, right? It’s not true.
It’s not true. I've swallowed them and never grew a watermelon. Well, maybe I don't know what this is,(pointing to his stomach) but it came on as I got older. Cracking your knuckles will cause arthritis, so stop that.
Not true. Medically, it's just the gas bubbles between your joints that just kind of burst. Yeah, but it is kind of irritating, so don't do it while I'm preaching, okay? Some people believe that the Earth is flat and regardless of what we've seen from camera shots and photos from outer space, they believe it's flat.
If you touch a toad, you'll get warts. Not true. Go ahead, ladies. Go ahead and try to find your prince.
You'll be okay.
Don't cross your eyes or they'll get stuck that way. I was also told this one. Actually, that's not the truth. Your muscles will be able to bring them back to normal. I wouldn't do it during a job interview, but it's okay.
Here's one more. This is the final one: The Easter bunny lays colored eggs.
Not true. The myth of the magical.
The myth of a magical bunny who lays colored eggs to well behaved children. This first originated in Germany as
something to celebrate at this time of the year. Now, look, I would not recommend what rabbits do lay, regardless of the color, okay? I wouldn't recommend that. Well, we believe in some funny things, don't we?
We believe in some strange things. But here's the thing I want you to consider. No matter how strong your belief, it doesn't make it true. You can believe something with all your heart, but that doesn't make it true. It's either true or false.
If it's true, it doesn't even matter if you believe it or not. It's still true. Belief is just saying, I'm persuaded that this is true. I have confidence that this is true.
Now, you might not believe in the law of gravity. You might say, I can't see gravity, I can't smell gravity, but if you miss a step on a ladder on your way down, gravity will still come true, whether you believe it or not, and you'll feel its impact. That's what I want to tell you about Jesus today. He said, “I'm the resurrection and the life,” and He backed it up by leaving that tomb and getting up.
It's a historical fact that you have to decide what to do with. Do you believe this? Do you believe this? Well, we're here today saying that we believe. We believe in this.
Now, why does this matter? Why does it matter that we believe in this resurrected life that we find in Jesus? Well, because we all face a certain reality called death. Death is not just something that we see in our loved ones that may have passed away or a friend. It's encouraging; it's hopeful to help us at those times.
But we all experience “little deaths” along the way. Maybe it's the “death” of a marriage. Maybe your marriage is in trouble and you're experiencing “little deaths” because you know what death really is.
What death really is, is separation. You know, death is separation from the body; the soul lives on, but the body dies. It's separation. So, when you have a break in marriage, when you have an unreconciled marriage, you could say, Well, that was a death of a marriage, a death of a friendship.
You could have the death of a dream. I had this dream. I wanted to do this, I wanted to accomplish this. But it looks like that dream has died.
We experienced little deaths along the way. This is why the fact that Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life” is so important, because we need life today, so that we have overcoming resurrection life that helps us overcome those little deaths along the way. Do you believe this? This is why it matters. In the book of John, chapter 11, two weeks before Easter Sunday, two weeks before Jesus was raised from the grave, He raised a man from the dead named Lazarus.
Before Lazarus died, He talked to Lazuris’ sister, Martha; He asked her if she believed this, that He's the resurrection and the life. As we look at the text today, I think we're called to answer that question too. I think as we look, we'll see three truths that Jesus proclaims that we can believe. Let's look at it. This is in the book of John, chapter 11,
starting in verse 25, John 11:25-26 (ESV) 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” This is God's word.
Amen. Three truths on how to experience resurrection life in Jesus. This is what we're talking about this morning. This is the first truth:
1. Look to the PERSON: True life is in Christ alone!
Look to the Person: True life is found in Christ alone! Look to the Person. Jesus doesn't say, Hey, I can give you life. I can give you resurrection.
He says something very unusual. He says, “I am the resurrection and the life.” This is very unique language. He doesn't offer Martha a doctrine. He doesn't try to explain resurrection to her.
He says, hey, look at Me. Look. Look at Me. Martha, I know you're grieving. I know you're hurting.
I know you've lost your brother. I know you're a little bit mad at Me. You're mad at God for letting it happen, because the first thing she says to Him when He approaches is, Lord, if you would have been here, if you hadn't been late, my brother would not have died.
Do you hear the accusation? He says, look at Me. It doesn't matter. I am the resurrection and the life. If you know Me, I am.
He doesn't give her a doctrine. He says, I'm the doctor. I am the resurrection. He doesn't offer her a program. He doesn't offer her a principal.
He offers her His person. He says, I am. This is very important. John loves the number seven. He has seven “I am” statements in his gospel.
This is important because in Exodus 3:14, at the burning bush Moses said, God, what's your name? We've been calling you the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But what's Your name? He says, “I am who I am.” (Ex. 3:14). My name is Yahweh, which in Hebrew means, I am the self existent, one ever present.
That's My name, so make no mistake, Jesus is claiming divinity here. He's claiming to be God, of very God. He says, in fact, in the Greek, if you could read it in the New Testament, it's written in Greek. It uses the emphatic use of “I.”
He says, “I, I am the resurrection.” “I, I am” seven times. It's in there. “I, I am the bread of life.” “I, I am the light of the world.”
”I, I am the door.” “I am the good shepherd.” “I am the true vine.” “I am the way, the truth and the life.”
”I am the resurrection and the life.” Seven times. He's making it clear to Martha, Hey, you're looking at the resurrection right here. But Martha says, “If you'd have been here, Lord…” But Jesus says that I'm here. I'm here, right here.
Tim Keller says, “When Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life, He isn’t offering an abstract idea—He’s offering Himself.”
He is life. He is the resurrection and the life. We see this in the opening of the Gospel of John. He says, John 1:1-4 (ESV) 1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”
He is life. He is the resurrection and the life. Notice what John writes in his first epistle. He says, 1 John 5:11-12 (ESV) 11 “And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” It reminds me of that old American Dairy association commercial where they would have famous people with a white mustache and then it would say, “Got milk?” off to the side, “Got milk?” They were obviously sloppy milk drinkers, right? But I feel like we ought to have a billboard that says, “Got Jesus, got life!”
It's not good English, but it's true. John says that if you have Jesus, you have life. If you don't have Jesus, you're dead already,
because we're all born spiritually dead. We're all born apart from God.
This weekend, I was getting ready for Spring. It's Easter. I have a lot of family coming over after church today and I was trying to get everything ready. I wanted to take the cover off of our screen porch. During the wintertime, I put a plastic covering up to keep some of that yellow pollen out and also have a place where we can keep our plants during the winter.
It was time to take it down. I was taking one section down over the top of our rose bush, the one I bought for Robin years ago on Mother's Day. It got loose from my hands and it broke off a couple of the branches. I looked at them. I wondered if I could stand them back up maybe. No, it's gone.
I just had to take some clippers and cut it down at the next leaf and it'll be okay. It'll grow back. But that section is dead. You know why it's not connected to the root anymore? It’s because life is in the root. Jesus is the source of life.
Apart from Christ, we have no life. This is why, in His statement, He says, “I am the vine and you are the branches.” Apart from Jesus, there is no life. Do you know Jesus today? Do you know the Person?
He's not called you to a religion of do's and don'ts. He's called you to a relationship with Christ, to the Person of Jesus. This leads us to the second truth that we see in the scripture:
2. Recognize the PENALTY: Death wins without Jesus.
There's only one way to find true life and that's in Christ, but recognize the penalty. Death wins without Jesus. Death wins without Jesus. Where do you see this, Gary?
Well, let's keep reading. 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, “
How many “whoever’s” do we have in the room? Are you included? Some of you aren't sure if you're a “whoever.” Surely “whoever” includes everybody, right?
Whoever believes in what? Me. Believes in Me. Jesus. Though he die, yet shall he live. These bodies will die. They're not going to make it. Some of us are ready to turn them in anyway.
Why is there death? Our very souls rebel against death because there's something inside of us. It says in the book of Ecclesiastes that God set eternity in our hearts,
so, we have a longing for things to last, but they never do. Things run down, things break down, things lose their “new car smell.”
There's something about death; we hate it and so did Jesus, because He's life and wherever life steps in, death loses.
But death's winning, apart from Jesus. He says, “whoever believes.” In other words, whoever places their confidence in Me, whoever is fully persuaded that I died for you and I'm risen today. Whoever's fully persuaded in that even though you die, you'll live. You know, these bodies, they're not built for heaven.
They will pass away or if we're here when He returns, they'll be changed, in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye. But, make no mistake, these bodies must pass.
There's a penalty for sin. It says in Romans 6:23 (ESV) “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We've all earned death.
We've all sinned. That's what Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned…” Remember the “whoever’s;” we're the “whoever’s.” We're also the “all” in
“For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” The truth is, sin and death will win without Christ. Look at what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:53-57 (NLT) 53 “For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 For sin is the sting that results in death,
and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Death wins apart from Christ. But in Christ, death, death loses. Death, death loses its sting.
C.S. Lewis wrote this; he says, "Either Jesus bore your death, or you will. There is no neutral ground." He not only took my death, He not only took your death.
If you're a believer in Him, He took your death, and He offers you His eternal life. He took your sin, and He offers your righteousness. All the sins of the world were placed upon Him as the Lamb of God and He offers His Sonship, His relationship with the Father and He takes our separation.
Either Jesus bore your death or you will. In the 1800s, there was a famous American evangelist. He was known around the world. His name was D.L. Moody.
He famously said, “Someday you will read in the papers that D.L. Moody of East Northfield is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now.”He was also famous for this saying, “Born once, die twice. Born twice, die once.”
Now, you might have to think about that for a minute, but if you're born once and you haven't been born again, you haven't been born twice, you will die twice. These bodies will die, and then you'll face the judgment and then there's eternal death in a place called hell, which is called the second death. Born once, die twice, but if you're born again, you're born twice.
Yeah, these old bodies have to die, but then there's life eternal. I like what he said. D.L. Moody's last words in 1899, when he lay on his deathbed, all of his children gathered around, his spouse and a couple of other people that were there taking notes because everyone wanted to know and hear what D.L. Moody would say as he passed.
These are some of the words he says, "Earth recedes, heaven opens before me. If this is death, it is sweet! There is no valley here. God is calling me, and I must go.”
Then, after a pause, he reportedly said: "This is my triumph; this is my coronation day! I have been looking forward to it for years.” And finally, to his children standing near: "If this is death, it is not bad... it is glorious!"
You know, as Jesus said to the thief on the cross who said, “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, this day, you will be with me in paradise.” I believe we close our eyes in this world as believers and open our eyes in the next. It's like waking up from sleep. Yes, death is the penalty of sin.
But Jesus says, “whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” That leads us to the third truth that He teaches us here. He says it's about knowing Him personally and being aware that death has a penalty. Then He gives a promise to believe.
3. Believe the PROMISE: Whoever believes in Jesus never dies.
Believe the promise: Whoever believes in Jesus never dies. These are the final words He says, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? “and everyone,” well, how about this? Now, are the “whoever's” still in the room?
What about the “everyones?” Are the “everyones” in the room? Okay, so everyone who lives and believes in Me, not in a doctrine, not in a philosophy or a religion. Believes in Jesus. Everyone who believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?
Do you believe this? He asked Martha. This is His promise. Everyone who lives and believes in Jesus, everyone who has the spirit of Christ, the spirit of the resurrection living in them. If you live in that, if that's
how you have your being, that's who you are. I'm a Jesus follower. Then you'll never really die. Oh, you'll go to sleep from this world and you'll open your eyes to the next, but you'll never truly die because the Lord will never leave you nor forsake you.
You have nothing to fear. You're filled with hope, knowing that you will never die. Do you believe this? This is the moment of decision for Martha. “Martha, do you believe this?”
Does she? Does she believe it? Does she believe it? We'll find out in a moment how she replies. Here's what Jesus says about this in John, chapter six.
He says, John 6:40 (ESV) “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” Everyone. Everyone who believes, He will raise up. There comes a day when every grave will burst open and every believer will have a new body.
He's the firstborn from among the dead. The scripture said “firstborn;” in the Greek, it is “prototakos.” That's the Greek word. It's where we get the word, “prototype.”
He's the “prototype” of the body. He could eat; He could drink. He didn't necessarily need to use doors. He appeared before His disciples and believers for forty days after His resurrection, before His ascension.
Paul reports that over five hundred saw Him at one time. We get a body like His; a resurrection body. He's the firstborn from among the dead. He says to Martha, “Do you believe this?” and she says, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who is coming into the world.”
She's got good doctrine. This is a good theological answer. Yes, Lord, I believe. She begins to list her doxology.
Basically, she says, I believe You're the Christ. I believe You're the Messiah. Good. I believe You're the Son of God.
Oh, wow. That's great, Martha. That's good. I believe You're the one who we've been waiting for that was coming into the world to bring Your kingdom. So she has this Jewish expectation that's being fulfilled in Him, but that's not what He was asking.
It's like they're talking past each other. You have to give Martha a break, though. She just lost her brother. He's been laying in the tomb for four days. She's still a little mad at God about that.
Do you believe that I'm the resurrection and the life? Do you believe in Me, because if you do, you will never die. She replies, I believe You're the Christ. I believe You're the Son of God.
Gary, aren't you being tough on Martha? Let's just check out how it goes. Now, here's how the story goes. So, here comes Mary.
She comes running up to where Jesus and Martha are and she's crying. Then, Jesus sees her. In the shortest verse in the Bible, “Jesus wept.” He begins to cry with her. Not because He knew He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead, but I think He's crying because she's crying, because that's how Jesus is.
He's tenderhearted towards us. He asks, “Where have you laid him?” with a reply, “Come and see.” They take Him to the tomb. Here's where we find out where Martha's belief really was.
This is how far she was believing. He says, “Roll away the stone.” She says to Jesus, “But, Lord, he's been in the tomb for four days.” The King James version says it like this, “He stinketh.”
I don't want to. I don't want to experience that. I've lost my brother. I'm not rolling away the stone. He says, “Roll away the stone.”
Then He says, “Lazarus, come forth,” and here Lazarus comes. He comes out with those grave clothes on him. Jesus turns to the people around Him and He says, “Take off his grave clothes and let him go.” Now, Martha believes.
Now, she gets it. Only a little less than two weeks later, Easter Sunday comes. Because of what happened was such a bold amount of news, it went viral.
Did you hear about this Jesus of Nazareth? He's probably the Son of God. He's probably the Messiah. He raised this man, Lazarus, from the grave. The scripture reports that everyone started to believe and they reported it to the Pharisees and they reported it to the high priest.
They said, if we keep letting this go, everyone's going to believe in Him and Caiaphas says, wouldn't it be better for one man to die so that all could be rescued? He was the high priest. Even though he's rejecting Jesus, the Gospel reports he really kind of prophesied there. So, they kill Him.
That thing with raising Lazarus actually pushed Him over the edge and they killed Him. Guess what He said, once again, He's saying this to us, “I am the resurrection.
and the life.” Death couldn't hold Him down. He burst forth from the grave.
Do you believe this? Do you believe this? Today, Jesus is still asking that question. Do you believe this? Maybe, you've made a confession of faith.
Maybe, you've got some good doctrine. You might have your theology all ordered up, but have you ever placed your trust in Jesus? Here's how Paul describes it to the church, to the believers in Rome. He says, Romans 10:9 (NIV) “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” In other words, you say, Jesus, You're king. You're the master of my life.
I turn my whole life over to You. Believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. Do you believe this? If you believe it, you will be saved. Have you ever done that?
Have you answered the question? Do you believe this? Let's pray.
Lord, I first of all pray for that one that's listening right now. The Lord's talking to you. The spirit is moving in your life right now. I don't know why you came today. Maybe, someone invited you.
Maybe, it's because it's Easter. But you hear the Lord speaking. He's asking you, Do you believe this and you're ready to say, Yes, Lord, I believe it.
I believe You died on the cross for my sins. You were raised from the grave and that You live today. Come and live in me. Forgive me of my sin. Make me a child of God.
I want to follow You as my Lord and as my Savior. If you're praying that prayer of faith, believing, it's not so much the words as it is the attitude of your heart. He will save you. Do you believe this? Others are here and you believe it with all your heart. You're a born again Christ follower,
but there's “little deaths” in your life today. Maybe it's trouble in your marriage, an unreconciled relationship with your kids, with your parents or with a friend. Maybe it's something that's not turning out the way you planned. Talk to the Resurrection and the Life; talk to Jesus.
He's the answer. Say, Lord, help me. Maybe you're grieving a loss. Lord, I need Your life afresh in me today and I trust you.
I live in You. I draw on the spirit of Christ today. We pray all these things in Your wonderful name, the name of Jesus. Amen.
Audio
Good morning, church. Happy Easter. Happy Easter to you. Christ is risen indeed. He's risen indeed.
This is a historical fact that we are going to talk about this morning. Certainly don't want to overlook this on Easter Sunday. Let's just dig right in on what Christ did for us in the resurrection. We're going to be in the Book of John, chapter 11 this morning together. And I just want to talk about this idea of what Christ said.
He asks this really important question very simply, do you believe this? Those simple words, that's what Christ asks. First to Martha and now across many millennia, now to us. This idea of do you believe in the resurrection of Jesus? Easter is just a fun thing to get together with your family if not for this huge fact.
It's just a good time to get together and eat and have some fun. But what if Easter is way bigger than that? That's what Christ is asking us today. Do you believe this in the one who defeated sin and death and the grave? We believe this as a church because it's true.
It's historically true, and it's life altering. It's why we come together. Paul, in fact, the Apostle Paul says, without the resurrection, we are a pitiful people, but because of it, we are saved forevermore. Right? This is wonderful news.
And we believe all kinds of interesting things. I want to start off by just. First of all, I wanted to talk to you for a minute about some things we believe that are completely outlandish before we get into some things that we should believe as a church and people believe all kinds of crazy myths. Here's one for you that I bet a lot of you believed. I believed it until this past week.
I didn't realize that we'd been lied to. And that is. You swallow eight spiders a year in your sleep. Anybody ever heard that? Now you're terrified.
Now you don't want to sleep tonight. Good news, it's not true. In fact, it was put out in a magazine article to prove how easily misinformation spreads. And I believe this. So it got me.
If you swallow watermelon seeds, they'll grow in your stomach. Cool as that would be that childhood trauma can stay right there. Moms and grandmas and whoever else told you that was just lying. Also, gum does not stay in your stomach for seven years. That's all just so you'd stop swallowing stuff you shouldn't swallow.
Okay? Cracking your knuckles causes arthritis. Sorry, Grandma. The science says no on this one as well. It just gas bubbles popping out of the joint.
It's Annoying, perhaps. And that's why, you know, kind of frustrating. Birds aren't real. That's the one. I have recently heard this was supposed to be a satirical conspiracy movement, but people started believing this.
In fact, they would argue that you see them on the power line so often because that's where they charge. That's interesting. They're actually government surveillance drones. If you touch a toad, you'll get warts. Nope, warts come from a virus.
Not our little amphibian friends. They're just kind of squishy and nasty. But justice for the toads. You can keep looking for your prints, ladies. If you cut a worm in half, I've messed this up a lot.
Y'all are gonna think less of me. Perhaps if you cut a worm in half, you don't get two worms.
Only some very few worms regenerate. And even when they do, they normally don't become two full worms. Normally what you get are two dead worm bits. Sorry, if you cross your eyes, they'll get stuck that way. I'm thankful that that's not true.
I've been doing that my whole life to mess with people. Medically speaking, they won't get frozen that way. But just choose your audience, Know your audience with the crossing a bias. And last but certainly not least, there is probably not an Easter bunny laying colored eggs anywhere. But maybe, I don't know, it originated in Germany.
I wouldn't recommend however, eating anything that comes out of rabbits in real life.
Now that's just a few. Do you know I looked these up on ChatGPT this week. Be careful there. Just so you know, it found like 25 of these. I was good and having a good time not studying the word of God at all.
So I needed to move on from that. We believe in some funny stuff though. Some people really believe some of these things. And there's even more far fetched things out there that we do and don't believe. But it's not really a laughing matter when we're talking about something as significant as what we're talking about today.
It's not a laughing matter when we're talking about life and death. You might can make the argument, I don't believe in gravity. I can't see it, so I don't believe it. But I would discourage you from climbing a ladder and jumping off. Because whether you see it, whether you believe it is irrelevant.
Gravity is real and it will get you and you will fall if you slip off a ladder, if you fall from a high place. The thing is, it's not the quality of your belief that determines whether something is true. It's the quality of the claim itself, whether it's tested, whether it's proven. Especially when it comes to claims like we're going to get into today about life, death. So what is the basis of your belief?
Where does it come from? On this day, Easter Sunday, we're reminded that Jesus claimed to be the resurrection and the life. Not just that he would provide it, but that he was resurrection, he was life and is life. And so he's making a claim that he's not only able to defeat death, but but also that he is the only way for us to receive resurrection life. And so where do you need resurrection life today?
I get it, you're sitting here, you're not dead. But there's a lot of things in your life that might feel dead. They may need a resurrection. And perhaps you're really wrestling with that today. For some of us in the room, we're facing many different kinds of death.
Death of an unfulfilled dream, something you just were certain that Christ or God was going to do in your life and it seems to have fallen apart. Death of a relationship that seemed right, maybe a marriage broken. Something fell apart in your life. And for many of us, of course, the very finality of death itself. Maybe you've lost someone, you're facing this.
I'm wondering, what do you believe Christ's resurrection, is it more than just something in a book to you, or is it actually a life changing truth? We're going to be in a passage of scripture I've not preached out of yet in 10 years for resurrection day for Easter Sunday. But man, I can't believe I haven't yet. It's in John, chapter 11, verses 25 and 26. And about two weeks before the first Easter Sunday, Jesus called Martha and came near her where her brother Lazarus had just died.
And he called her to believe in him as the resurrection and the life. We too can experience this. I pray we can get into the story, take our part in it today, and experience resurrection life by believing and Jesus. I believe the text will show us three truths for experiencing this life. So let's read this short passage, John 11, 25, 26.
Jesus said to her, martha, 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. Do you believe this? I pray you can hear that question for yourself today.
Do you believe this? God bless the reading of his word. Amen this is a powerful question that goes across time. And we can experience this resurrection life in Jesus by first looking to the person. If you're taking notes with me today, look to the person.
True life is in Christ alone. This is really weird. Put yourself in Martha's shoes for just a second. Sometimes I think we read the Bible and just kind of go through it. Picture yourself as Martha for a moment.
And here's this rabbi that's been traveling that you're believing in all the more. You've seen him do miracles. At this point, when Lazarus has died and the resurrection of Lazarus is about to occur, this is very close to when Christ himself will be crucified and resurrected. So at this point, Mary, Martha, the disciples, they have seen Jesus do incredible things. He's already resurrected a couple of people.
I don't know if you're aware of this. He called this little girl named Tabitha to get up. He calls a man that's in a funeral procession, a young boy, calls that boy right out. So Mary and Martha have heard this and perhaps even seen this. And so that when Jesus comes, she said, don't forget this.
She says, master, had you been here, I know my brother would not have died. But even still, I know that whatever God asks, whatever you ask of God, he will do. So she believes. She believes. But Christ is wanting to give her more and you more.
Today, it's not enough to know that Christ Jesus can raise people to life. The bigger step is that Christ Jesus is life. You don't have to be at the point of death to receive life. That's what Christ is trying to tell Martha. He's trying to encourage her to see something.
I'm not just here to help Lazarus. I'm here to help you. I'm here to help Mary and everyone who's seeing this so that they will know that true life is in Christ alone. True life comes from Jesus. He starts this sentence here in verse 25 with one of his famous sayings.
Verse 25, he says, I am the resurrection. In the Book of John, there are seven of these I am statements. It's an emphatic use. In the Greek, it's egoymi. It literally means I, I am.
He's emphasizing the fact that he is God. He is trying to get the people to hear something about who Yahweh is. In fact, when God tells Moses to report to the people who is sending him in, who does God say to call him? He says, tell the people I am who I am. Tell them I am sent you and so now Jesus is saying, I am the resurrection and the life.
He's making a divine claim here. And he says, I'm not only calling people to rise up, I am the very resurrection. This word means literally to stand up again. And so Tim Keller, when writing on this, he says, when Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life, he isn't offering an abstract idea, he's offering himself. And that's better.
Church, I don't know how you've come today. Perhaps you're wrestling with some things that are hard or difficult in your life. Maybe there are some dead things in your life. I want you to hear something that Christ Jesus is offering himself to you. That life, true life, is not something outside.
It's not something even. And this is going to sound weird because we're here today. It's not something that just happens here on Sunday mornings. It's something that is happening in your life. Every day that you come and approach the throne room of God.
You have immediate access to the Savior every moment of every day. True life is in him, and he's readily available, he says. Verse 25, Life, abundant life. In fact, Christ is the Logos, the source of life. Earlier in the book of John, John writes John 1.
He says, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him. And listen to this church. Without him was not anything made that was made.
For in him was life, and the life was the light of men. If you're seeking today, I want to know what it means to actually live in such a way that I feel full of meaning, full of purpose. I want to know what it looks like to have true joy. I want to know what it really means to live my fullest life. I think everybody really wants this.
We want to know what it's like to live fully. We'd hate to go through our entire days and have wasted it. We want to know, man, something about what I'm doing is important. Christ is here telling Martha and now telling you. You want to know where true life is?
Walk with me, walk with me. Spend time with me. Get in your word, Stay with me in prayer. Call me up in the morning in prayer and don't hang up. Let's hang out all day.
Because true life is found in Christ Jesus. Eternal life is only found there. John writes in a later book, 1 John 5. He says, this is the testimony that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life.
Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. Now I think this means both eternally, but I believe it also means now I can say plainly to you that I think the best life you could possibly live here before heaven is in Christ Jesus. That then suddenly all of the hard things begin to have purpose. Guess what we're all going to face Tough stuff. This isn't unique to Christian or non Christian.
This is just about humankind. We face suffering, we face brokenness. Sometimes people don't get along. Sometimes you say something to someone that you meant to be a compliment and they take it as an ins because we just don't communicate well all the time. We hurt one another, we hurt ourselves sometimes.
We're the knucklehead that climbed the ladder and slipped and fell. I fell out of a tree about 10ft up about a couple of years ago and landed right on my back and laid there for a second and thought, I may meet Jesus today. I don't know, but I was okay. My kids laughed. That's how much they love me.
If my wife had been out there, she would have laughed as well because that's the kind of family we are. I don't laugh when my wife falls because she always really actually gets injured. And that's a lot of work. Alright, that doesn't sound loving, I know, but it's just more work.
Jesus calls us to true life. He says, I am the vine, you are the branches. He's the source of life. This whole imagery is this idea that you want to know what it means to have the greatest life, like be connected to me. I am the source.
If you cut a tree branch off or you're pruning your garden or something, you'll notice quickly that whatever that is you pruned off, it dies. And it dies swiftly. It goes brown and it breaks down. Some of us are living this way. We're not connected to Christ Jesus at all.
We think resurrection is something later. I'm telling you, it's today. It's today. Here's the second, and this one's a little more difficult. The second truth that Christ is offering is that we can recognize the penalty, that death wins without Jesus.
I've heard it said before that you know, none of us. There's one undefeated champion out there and that's Father Time. You know, that eventually gets all the best athletes, it gets all the smartest people. Eventually time gets us all. That's only partially true if you recognize that in fact in Christ Jesus, death does not Win the opposite is true.
Jesus says in verses 25 and 26, whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. This sounds almost a little bit illogical at first. In fact, he goes on to say, not only that, but whoever believes in me, though he died, yet shall he live. He also says, everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Well, wait a minute.
I've known a whole lot of people who have professed Christ who have gone on and died. Now he's talking about something not only now, but later. He's talking about both the physical and the spiritual. In this moment. He says, whoever believes, that is, whoever's persuaded, has put their faith in, will never experience death in the same way as everyone else.
Now, what does that mean? That means not only physically do we face death differently, but spiritually, there's something beyond. I can tell you this with confidence if you've been to funerals. And I know this isn't the greatest day to be talking about a funeral, right? Because God got up, right?
Christ Jesus got out of the grave. But let me just mention something to you for a second. I've been to a lot of different. And I've even officiated some funerals where myself or the family weren't too sure what the person believed. I can tell you right now, those are extremely hard.
They're extremely hard. But the ones where someone has clearly walked with Christ for a while, though there's grief and there's mourning, they're not hard in that sense. And I think in a way, Christ is speaking to that, that we have this eternal hope that starts right now, so that when we face suffering, when we face death, we see it with purpose and meaning. We're able to face it with a certain kind of confidence and faith that most don't. But then also in a spiritual sense, he's saying, you will live eternally.
The penalty of sin is death. But in Christ we have eternal life. Paul writes this in Romans 6, the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life. In Christ Jesus our Lord. The truth is sin and death will win without Christ, but with him, he has conquered them already.
That's why we're here today celebrating. That's why Good Friday is good. Otherwise, without resurrection, it was just awful. But with resurrection, it's Good Friday and we have something to celebrate. Paul writes to the Corinthians in chapter 15 of First Corinthians, he says, for our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die.
Our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. Then when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, the scripture will be fulfilled. And I know y'all love this passage. Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting? For sin is the sting that results in death. And the law gives sin its power. But thank God, he gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you believe this?
Do you believe this? CS Lewis quotes this one I came across. I hadn't seen it in a while. He says, either Jesus bore your death or you will. There's no neutral ground, my friend.
That's true today. And I don't tell you that to scare you. I tell you that to show the grace and mercy of God. You're not left in the dark. He has provided a light.
He has given you an opportunity to receive eternal life. He has taken on the death that you deserved. He has paid the penalty that you earned. And so did I. I've messed up plenty in my life, and so have you.
The great part about walking with Christ is that we can be honest about these things. We don't have to be dishonest anymore and say, oh, I'm okay. I'm going to be alright. No, you can come. And in truth, and say, nah, there's some stuff I regret.
There's some stuff I'm ashamed of. I thought some stuff this week that I'm like, I'm a pastor. I shouldn't have thought that. And I did. Maybe I even was short with my wife.
Maybe I was too angry with my kids. I've been working up here a lot, Y'all trying to get this place nice and pretty for you. It's our first Sunday here. I think most of you probably know that. And we're figuring it out, figuring it out together.
And I've probably been a little spicy with some with my family. You tend to be spicy with the people you truly love. Isn't that crazy? You're the hardest on them. And so I know, even this week, there's some things perhaps that I've needed to repent of and have done so.
And I'm thankful yet again that Christ bore my death so that I don't have to, because I couldn't do it anyway. I couldn't free myself of this eternal bondage. But he did. C.S. lewis is right.
Another great theologian of old, a man named D.L. moody. You've probably heard of him, evangelist back in the late 1800s. He said, Someday you will read in the papers that D.L. moody of East Northfield is dead.
He wrote once, he said, don't you believe that word at all. He said, at the moment, I shall be more alive than I am now. He was famous for once saying, born once and you die twice, but born twice, you only die once. That's really great, really great stuff. He died in 1899 and famously wrote these things.
I hope I'm this sharp in my last days. I wonder what I'll be like in my last days. I'll probably be a little out of my mind, but we'll see if we hang in there. He famously said, earth recedes and heaven opens before me. He turned to his kids and said, if this is death, it is sweet.
There's no valley here. God is calling me and I must go. Then after a short pause, he said, this is my coronation day. I've been looking forward to this for years. I hope I say stuff like that, but guess what, church.
You can have that kind of confidence today, no matter what age you are. You can have the kind of confidence that says, I can face whatever because of Christ Jesus. Not just eternal, not just death that's coming. Some of you, most of us have got a long time before we face that kind of stuff. But what about what's coming Monday?
Because guess what? Easter is going to end at the end of the day. And you're gonna have to go back to work tomorrow. And those same people that have been driving you nuts, they might do it tomorrow, your co workers, they might be clients. They might be people coming into your store or wherever you work.
You might have some folks that you see regularly that you avoid like the plague. What about them? Will you have that same kind of encouragement on your lips then? What if you were called to be resurrection to others as well? What if you were called to be the representative of abundant life to everyone you come across?
You don't have to wait on this. I hope you're hearing this, Church. You don't have to wait. This isn't the last days thing. It's now resurrection.
Life is yours in Christ Jesus. Whoever believes in him, though he die, yet shall he live. I want to experience life. And then the third truth is this. Believe the promise.
Whoever believes in Jesus never truly dies. I hope this is an encouragement to some of you who have lost loved ones recently, even this year, and if they were in Christ Jesus, you can know this surely, as. As D.L. moody once wrote, don't believe even a word of that. I'm more alive today than ever before.
Those who have gone on before us. They are experiencing something we can only imagine. Believe the promise. Jesus says, everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Everyone.
That's great news. Cause some of you might be thinking, okay, I get it, Pastor Jonathan. You might be one of those few that God can set free, but. But you don't know my rap sheet. I'm a big mess.
Christ Jesus says, hear everyone, everyone. What gets you there, Jesus? We have this wonderful picture on Good Friday of three men at the cross, one of which rails and scoffs at Jesus and, hey, save yourself and save us too. And the other guy says, are you insane? This man is innocent.
God, Christ, Jesus, would you remember me when you're in your kingdom? And Jesus says, famously, today you will be with me in paradise. Now, I can promise you something right now, Church. This man didn't get it right in life at all. He was rightly crucified.
He had done wrong, maybe murder, maybe some terrible theft. He had done terrible things. For him to receive this kind of punishment and all he did, what did he do right, Church? Do you believe this? Yes, that's it.
He didn't get baptized. He didn't figure out the doctrines. I guarantee you did not understand eschatological terms or the ecclesiology of the Church. His theology was jacked up. I guarantee you he knew one thing.
This guy in the middle is somebody. He's the Savior. Would you remember me? You'll be with me today in paradise. So, friend, friend, when Christ Jesus says everyone, he's not kidding.
And your rap sheet, if it was based on that, my friends, we'd all be lost. It's not based on that. It's based on Jesus. He's the resurrection. He says everyone, and you'll never die.
Do you believe this? Verse 26. This is the moment of decision. So I would ask you, as we're coming to a close today, I would ask you this question simply, do you believe this is Jesus, your Lord and Savior? It's not enough that he set free your parents or your grandparents.
It's not enough that you're at church today. None of that stuff matters. What matters is what do you believe? All who believe in Jesus will be raised to eternal life. John writes in John 6, this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life.
And I will raise him up on the last day. I want that. I want real life, true life now. I want it tomorrow. I want it at the end of my days.
And I Know where it's at. I pray that you do too. It's in Jesus Christ. It's in walking with him each and every moment of each and every day. I want to conclude this story by giving you Martha's response.
Put yourself in her shoes for a minute. She's not crazy. Martha 11:27, she says to him, yes, Lord, I believe that you're the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world. This is actually a really beautiful confession. I believe you are, Lord.
You're the Christ. You're the Son of God coming into the world. Unfortunately, though, she's left off something. Jesus approached the tomb of Lazarus and showed her something she wasn't expecting. Martha attempts.
In fact, in this moment, this is how we know Martha doesn't totally get it. Yet. She restrains Jesus, saying this in verse 39, Lord, by this time there will be an odor. He has been dead for four days.
When faced with the finality of death, she didn't really believe in Jesus in the way he has now revealed himself. But she's going to learn. She's going to find out. Jesus says these famous words in verse 43, Lazarus come forth. And she believed.
And so did everybody there. In fact, verse 45 says, those who seen what he did, it created this commotion such that later in that same chapter, it says that the Pharisees and the council heard. And they said, if. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him. They've got another problem too.
There's this dude walking around now that was dead for four days. He's a problem. They begin to plot how to kill both of them. We can't have Lazarus walking around saying, I've seen things. I've seen some stuff.
I was dead for four days.
So they plotted to kill him. And about a week later, they turned him over to the Romans to be crucified. Yet on the third day, he arose. On the third day, Jesus got up. Do you believe this?
Has it changed your life? Some of us grew up in the church and we learned this perhaps as kids. I started hearing about the resurrection of Jesus as young as I can possibly remember. I remember getting all gussied up for church, like super young. I kind of hated it because I'm that kid.
I want to get sweaty, I want to run, I want to find mud, I want to get into something. And my dad would get me and my brother and my sister. Well, mostly just me and my brother. I think my sister was on my mom's. She was.
For her to figure out. So the two brothers, we'd be in suits and ties, y'all. That's how my dad rolled. And he'd have us sitting on the couch. We've got photos of this somewhere, and we're both looking miserable because we've already been reprimanded for moving.
We're sitting on the couch and from my earliest memory, I've been hearing this story of there's this Jesus, and he died on the cross and he rose from the grave. I've been hearing this since I was a kid, but guess what? It took me a while to connect the dots. It's one thing to believe in these truths. It's another thing to believe that they change your life.
Every day I pray for you that this is what you'll hear today, that Christ, the resurrection life is now. It's a present power in your life. Do you believe this? Romans 10, 9. I quote this often at our church.
If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Have you believed in the person? Have you recognized the penalty and now believe in this promise? Let's pray now together. Church.