“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies” (John 11:25).
The story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead is well-known for several things. One, this passage contains the shortest verse in the Bible, well-known to those of us who have been challenged to recite Scripture on the spot – “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Two, Jesus miraculously raised a man from the dead. And three, Jesus made one of his most outrageous claims: that He was the resurrection and those who believed in him could be guaranteed eternal life. In fact, he was claiming his Divinity.
After presenting Himself as The Resurrection and The Life, Jesus asked Martha an all-important question: “Do you believe this?” (John 11:26).
From Jesus’ question, we see that we have a choice as to whether we believe Jesus is who He says He is. We have always had this choice. In fact, in one of Moses’ final speeches to the children if Israel, when he was 100 years old, he told them they had a choice between life and success or death and disaster. He recommended that they choose life:
“Today I am giving you a choice. You can choose life and success or death and disaster…. Choose life! Be completely faithful to the Lord your God, love him, and do whatever he tells you. The Lord is the only one who can give life, and he will let you live a long time in the land that he promised to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (Deuteronomy 30:15, 19b-20).
Joshua also called on his people to make a choice. “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14-15).
If you carefully read the above passage, you will note that Joshua accurately tells his people that their choice is not if they will worship, but whom they will worship. Jesus also tells us this about our choices: “You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can’t worship God and Money both.” (Matthew 6:24 CEV).
We will die one day. And when we die, one of two things will happen. We will go on to heaven—to eternal life with our heavenly Father, or we will go to eternal damnation, to hell, separated from God forever, death. Choose Life. Choose Jesus, because “The Lord is the only one who can give life” (Deuteronomy 30:20).
When Jesus asked Martha that all-important question: “Do you believe this?” (John 11:26), she answered“Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who was to come into the world” (John 11:27). Martha believed that Jesus is God, that he is the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, the Door, the Way, The Truth, The Resurrection and The Life. May our answer likewise be, “Yes Lord, I Believe.”
In Christ,
Judy
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