Princeton Presbyterian Church (EPC) Sermon # 1682
April 20, 2025
John 11.17-27 & 20.1-10 Click here for audio worship.
Dr. Ed Pettus
(This is an extended outline, not a verbatim transcript.)
“I Am the Resurrection”
17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
20.1Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes.
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Resurrection Stories
We began our reading this morning before the resurrection of Christ, but with Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. It is a story filled with twists and turns that certainly the disciples and the family of Lazarus did not see coming. Jesus delayed coming to Lazarus’ home when He was first notified that Lazarus was ill. Jesus told the disciples that this was for the glory of God, but the disciples did not understand what Jesus meant. When He told them that Lazarus had fallen asleep, they thought he would recover with rest. Jesus then had to reveal to them plainly that Lazarus had died. All the while was the underlying threat that if Jesus went back to that area He would be stoned to death. So Thomas thinks they should go with Jesus so that they all would die with Him.
By the time Jesus and the disciples arrive, Lazarus had been dead four days. The biggest twist in the story is when Jesus calls on them to take away the stone from the cave where Lazarus had been placed. Jesus gave thanks to God and then called out, “Lazarus, come out.” He came out still bound in burial cloths and Jesus told them to unbind him and let him go.
We might imagine that Jesus would have concluded this resurrection event with the proclamation that He is the resurrection. But that statement comes in the middle of the story, before Lazarus is raised. Martha has professed that Jesus is the Christ and can do all things.
John 11.25-27, Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
That is a remarkable statement of faith on Martha’s part, something we might not notice in light of the entire narrative. Jesus is sharing this powerful message of His identity – I am the resurrection and the life. He then proceeds to affirm this glorious power by raising Lazarus from the dead.
Lazarus was not the only one. Similar stories led to the spreading of news about Jesus and His performing miracles and teaching as one with authority.
Mark 5.41 traces the raising of Jarius’s daughter. “Why bother the teacher anymore, your daughter is dead.” But Jesus comes to her lifeless body and says, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.”
We see in Luke 7.14, Jesus raises the unnamed son of a widowed woman, “Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” There are several other accounts of people being raised up through both Testaments of the Bible.
All of these events open the revelation of a critical truth: Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. He spoke the word and raised Jarius’s daughter and in Luke 7, the woman’s only son He commanded to rise up. These point us to the resurrection of the dead and point to the fact that Jesus would be raised from the dead. Of course, there are distinct differences between the resurrections, but all of the stories of those who were brought from death to life, all point to the ultimate resurrection that is like no other resurrection, that of Jesus. All the others would die again. Jesus lives forever. All the others would be raised just as they had died, that is, there was no difference in them before their death and after being raised. But Jesus, there was something different about Jesus. Mary does not recognize Him at first. The disciples on the road to Emmaus did not recognize Him until He breaks bread with them. Something is different, something marvelous and perhaps more like the transfiguration, more glory to Him, more life, more a reflection of eternity. That is not to say that He was any less human or any less divine prior to the crucifixion, but it is only to say something was different.
Jesus proclaims an amazing, life giving truth that effects all who believe, “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?”
Do we believe this? Do we believe the great “I am”?
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I Am
Jesus’ affirmation of who He is reflects the name of God. “I am…” Exodus 3.14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
When Jesus says “I am the resurrection”, I would imagine He put great emphasis on the words “I am”. It is in this same Gospel that Jesus says this, (John 8.58), Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” Before Abraham was! Before the begotten Son was born into the human existence, I am! John’s Gospel is the one Gospel with multiple “I am” statements:
“I am the resurrection and the life.”
John 6.35, Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
John 8.12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 10.7-9 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
John 10.11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
John 14.6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 15.1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.
Jesus has truly identified Himself with the Father. He and the Father are one and share the name, “I am”. As the resurrection, He brings forth life. As the bread of life, He feeds and nurtures us. As the light of the world, He shows us the way. As the door, He is the way to salvation. As the good shepherd, He leads us to green pastures. Perhaps John 14.6 sums them all up as He is the way, and the truth, and the life.
Do we believe this?
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Resurrection & Life
The apostle Paul writes in Philippians that he (Paul) gives up every status, every possession, everything he is or was in order to know Christ and His resurrection. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3.8-11).
This is what is asked of us when we profess to believe in Jesus and follow Him as disciples. We are seeking to gain Christ, to know Him, to be found in Him, to have faith in Him, to have His righteousness bestowed upon us, to know the power of His resurrection. Think on that for a moment. What power does it take to raise Jesus from the dead? It is certainly way beyond our own power. Frankenstein is a fairy tale! Zombies are a fantasy! But Jesus is raised to new life for He is the resurrection and the life.
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Jesus Christ – Risen from the Dead
THE news today and THE cornerstone of the gospel; THE joy of the world; THE power to those who believe is in the news that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. The tomb is empty. Life has come from death and the truth is that Jesus truly died, and was laid in the tomb, and on the third day the stone at the entrance was rolled away, not easy to do, and the tomb was empty, for God has raised Jesus from the dead.
This is a central tenet of the Christian faith – the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Without it, we have nothing. Without it, we have no message of Good News. Without it, we have no salvation from sin. Without it, we are forever lost and there is nothing beyond this life. The apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15, has shown Christ is truly raised and he built the foundation of his defense or argument upon many faithful witnesses who saw and experienced the risen Lord. Paul put forth the argument that it is nonsense to suggest that there is no resurrection. Christ is risen and there is more than enough evidence to support this claim. But even more than that, the work of God's Spirit in our hearts and the transformative nature of God's grace in our lives gives us the assurance that Christ is risen indeed! The resurrection is revealed to us through the Holy Spirit according to 1 Corinthians 2.10,"these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit." It is a spiritual revelation given by the Holy Spirit and understood at the depth of our soul in a spiritual way (1 Cor 2.12). Christ is risen. It is the truth we celebrate this Easter morning and the truth we celebrate every Sunday, that Christ has risen from the tomb. He lives! And all who believe in Him live in the power of the resurrection of Christ our Lord and Savior.
The resurrection means that we live within a movement and way of life that is powered, not by simply following particular rules or traditions, but empowered by the power of God. That power certainly enables us to keep rules and traditions as long as they lead us to holiness and faith. The resurrection of Jesus differs from that of Lazarus or any others who were brought back from death. Jesus rose to a new life, a new existence, and to never die again. Lazarus had to go through death a second time. I’m not sure how to think about that, perhaps it was easier knowing what was to come. Jesus died once and for all of us, never to die again, but to conquer death for all of us as well. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15.26, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” In the cross and resurrection, all the enemies of life and creation and God’s ways are either destroyed or set on notice that they will one day be done!
We all are in different places of faith and hope, as are the people we know and those we encounter day after day. Some may not be fully convinced of Christ risen from the dead. Some believing but living as if it is not so. Some may be fully bought in to the good news but occasionally have those doubts that creep into their lives and perhaps our lives as well. I do not know where our inner most hearts are today, but what we can know is that Jesus is with us by His spirit and in His Word. On this Easter, let us pray for one another and pray for ourselves, that we may all be so deeply touched by God’s grace and trained in God’s righteousness that we might live completely and totally grounded in the power of the Resurrected One, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is risen, and that is the greatest news we will ever receive. Live in that power. Live in that good news. Live, because Christ has given us that life to live in the power of His resurrection. Amen.
