Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26 NIV
A friend of the family, Lazarus, brother to Mary and Martha, was sick and at the point of death. The sisters sent for Jesus, but he delayed in coming, and then the brother died. Why would a man who could heal the sick, forgive sin and raise the dead delay in coming? If indeed he is the one the whole world was talking about, why would he not come on time? There are things that happen to us that may not always make sense; we ask God for something, and the very opposite happens. We hold God hand for something, and it seems that we are left holding the short end of the stick? Does it mean that God does not hear, or does it mean that he cannot save?
There must be no doubt in my mind about the identity and power of the God who calls me to Himself. He is the Almighty God, with whom nothing is impossible. When he died and rose again, he dealt a fatal blow to death, so that death now has no power over those of us who have come to put our trust in Him. That is the essence of today's extract: even when the unthinkable and unexpected happen, I have the assurance that death is not the final chapter but the door into the final chapter, which is eternal life with Jesus. By his death and life, Jesus now personifies resurrection and the life. All who believe in Him to the end enjoy these benefits. Do you?
That faith in Jesus is key. It is faith in the finished work that qualifies me. If I believe in Jesus, I enter into life already. It does not matter what my physical circumstances are, or how the end comes; what is important is that the end finds me in Christ. Death is an appointment all of us must keep if Jesus tarries long enough, but there is also the assurance that through His life, death has no real power. Imagine Jesus saying this to the sisters who had just lost a brother, particularly one that they sent for Jesus early enough before he died. If I were the sisters, would I listen? Thank God they listened, and we know how the story ended.
We come to the same decision point in our own lives today. With all the problems staring us in the face, what would we believe? Just as Jesus asked the sisters in those days, so does he ask us too today: Having heard of me, and seen the things I can do, "Do you believe"? He is asking me to trust him, not my daily reality. He is asking me to ignore plain facts, and just focus by faith on who He is and what he promises. I take comfort from this fact: the One who makes these promises has outlived all fo the problems I could ever face, so if he says I am safe in him, he is speaking from victory and experience. I can trust him to keep his promises. I can trust him to perfect all that concerns me. God's time of favour is here.
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