Day 302 or October the 29th. I am the resurrection
and the life. Our thoughts today come from John
chapter 11 verse 25. Jesus said to her, I am
the resurrection and the life. The one who believes
in me will live even though they die. Now the
big picture surrounding this verse. As John approaches
the last week of the earthly life of Jesus, he
records the instance of Lazarus being raised
by Jesus after he had been dead for four days.
Just imagine being a witness to this. John is
the only one who records it, and I, for one,
am very glad he does. It just goes to show how
many good and helpful things the Gospel writers
could have written down when the raising of a
dead man isn't included. He underlines how long
Lazarus has been dead, just in case you may suspect
that he'd only just fainted. John tells us more
about the events in the upper room than all the
other Gospel writers added together. It begins
in our passage today and runs for a total of
five chapters. It's John alone who tells us of
Jesus washing the disciples' feet, and also many
more details not included in the other Gospels.
And now, today's action step. Having proved he
has power over death by raising his friend Lazarus
from the dead, Jesus then justifiably declares
that he is the resurrection and the life. No
one else could make such a claim, but ironically,
when Jesus does, it's then that the religious
leaders of his day determine that he must die.
It's a grave issue, but I always find myself
laughing at the futility of declaring death on
a man who has just proved he has power over death.
I'm sure you've heard people say that they don't
believe Jesus was anything more than a superb
teacher and example. Well, I, for one, would
not want to be associated with any superb teacher
who claimed to have exclusive power over death.
I would steer well clear. Having said that, if
Jesus does have the power of life and death at
his command, we would be foolish to ignore him
when he says, Come to me.