John 11:24-27 24Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”
Martha reveals her faith and the common understanding of many Jews of that time about resurrection. Jesus’ statement in verse 23 about Lazarus rising from the dead could have been intentionally vague to draw out a response from her. Many Jews followed the teaching of the Pharisees who believed there will be a resurrection at the end of time, on the last day, referring to the anticipated Day of the Lord (Acts 23:8). The extent of Martha’s faith in relation to Jesus is not clear with her reply. She believed he could do something but resurrection was beyond her thinking. She may have been overwhelmed with emotion and confusion to find a clear anchor point for her faith.
Jesus’ reply is one of the great “I am” (egō eimi) statements of John. Jesus confirms Martha’s thinking about resurrection at the end and indicates that he will be the source of it. He had already taught this truth on other occasions and may have taught it to this family (5:21, 25–29; 6:39–40). The “I am” statement has two closely related predicates that could be taken as synonous (pleonasm), or, more likely, development. Resurrection overcomes the power of death, which is itself a tremendous thought and anticipation. Life extends the effects of resurrection and brings a new type of existence free from the bonds of death and all it wars against humanity. The type of resurrection Jesus is talking about is not temporary, where a person will die again, but eternal, with a new life that will continue forever.
There is only one path to resurrection: believing in Jesus. The key idea of John’s Gospel of the need to believe in Jesus is repeated again. Jesus speaks of the resurrection he provides in two ways in different statements. The first in verse 25 refers to our earthly, physical existence. Every human will die. Though many people ignore that truth most of their lives and eat, drink, and be merry, oblivious to the inevitable. Those who die believing in Jesus will experience resurrection life. We have hope there is something beyond the grave. The second idea is found in verse 26 and refers to our spiritual existence. Eternal life is a gift we can receive now that will outlast death. This verse could be taken as an extension of the new life from the end of verse 25 (he will live) or give assurance that physical death has no consequence for believers. Jesus taught this truth already in 3:16 and 8:51. The first spiritual resurrection guarantees the second bodily resurrection. Paul the Apostle taught the same idea in 1 Corinthians 15.
Jesus’ statement is a wonderful and powerful promise, but the issue is whether a person believes it or not. Jesus’ question to Martha at the end of verse 26 is the one everyone must answer: Do you believe this? The question connects resurrection hope to faith in Jesus. Martha’s affirmative response represents the central confession of faith of John’s Gospel and symbolically comes in the middle of the book. The verb I have believed (pepisteuika) is in the perfect tense, suggesting that Martha was on a journey of faith, and that her faith was still growing. Her faith was in more than what the average Jew hoped about the end of time and a general resurrection; her faith was in a person. She used three important descriptions of Jesus. Each of these descriptions echoes themes of chapter 1: Christ (1:41), Son of God (1:49), and the one who is coming into the world (1:9). Martha sets the pattern for all readers of this Book by connecting her hope for resurrection and life to Jesus.
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