25 Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ John 11:25-26

If you thought the I AM sayings of Jesus couldn’t get any bigger, think again. When did you last hear someone refer to themselves as ‘the resurrection and the life’? Again a claim of being God. In an ironic statement while preaching to people in Acts 3, he says, “You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead”. Also the writer to the Hebrews refers to Jesus’s priesthood as being one that is on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. (Heb 7:16)

The resurrection of Jesus means everything to us. It forms the substance of our faith, as Paul says “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” (1 Cor 15:13-14). What this means for us is that we can laugh in death’s face and together with Paul declare: “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Cor 15:55). Here’s how C.S. Lewis describes death: “The term is over: the holidays have begun!”

Paul’s application is a couple verses down: “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Cor 15:58). Let’s do just that.

I am the resurrection and the life

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