Explore the Bible: I Am the Resurrection

• The Explore the Bible lesson for Feb. 26 focuses on John 11:32-46.

John 11 begins a new scene with the information that Lazarus is sick, and his sisters are sending word to Jesus for aid.

Jesus hears the news and chooses, not to rush to Lazarus’ side, but to wait two more days. Jesus’ lack of action is not because he is doing something of greater importance, but rather because Jesus sees in Lazarus’ ill condition an opportunity for others to see “God’s Son glorified through it” (John 11:4).

After declaring it was time to return to Judea, Jesus is met with the stark reminder his own well-being is in danger. Jesus declares that, “Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up” (John 11:11).

Misunderstanding the euphemism of “sleep,” the disciples must be told plainly by Jesus that “Lazarus is dead” (John 11:14). Both Jesus and the disciples are aware of what Jesus is going to Bethany to do (that is, raise Lazarus) and why he is going to do it (that is, that the Son may be glorified). With this in mind, John’s readers soon discover that the raising of Lazarus from the dead serves some very important roles for John’s message of who Jesus is and what he is coming to do.

I Am the Resurrection (11:21-34)

Before Jesus even gets to the home of his beloved friends, Martha runs to meet Jesus and greets him with an accusation: “If you had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:21) Jesus, in turn, provides a gracious answer to the accusation with, “Your brother will rise again” (John 11:23). Martha’s response encapsulates a prevailing view of many Jews, including the Pharisees, that a future resurrection was to occur in the last days.

Martha’s statement serves John’s readers with the next “I Am” statement of Jesus and the first major role that this narrative plays in John’s gospel. Jesus simply states, “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” (John 11:25-26). The point is clear: Jesus is the ultimate life-giver and death-defeater.

This “I Am” statement in John stands as the pinnacle of all previous statements made by Jesus. The promise of life is found, not in Jesus’ temporal ability held by a specific time and place, but in Jesus alone. The hope of eternal life is found in the person of Jesus.

You will see the Glory of God  (11:35-40)

The second important role this narrative plays in John is previously stated by Jesus, but emphasized again in 11:40. Namely, the raising of Lazarus enables the onlookers to “see the glory of God.” For John, the second most important “sign” concerning Jesus’ divine identity is witnessed in Lazarus’ raising (the most important is Jesus’ own resurrection to come). It is by far the most impressive “sign,” an important word for John, and would appear to be the climax of demonstrating his own ability as the Messiah.

In 11:39 Jesus implores that the stone be rolled away. He prays out loud to the Father that those in attendance would “believe that you sent me” (John 11:42) and proceeds by calling in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The man who had been dead four days comes forth out of the tomb, and the glory of God is in full display.

Many of the Jews Believed (11:41-44)

The third role of this story is found in verse 45 where John retells that many of the Jews “believed in Jesus.” Later in chapter 20, John will provide his reasoning behind the writing of the gospel. He states there that, “these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). Here in John 11, John depicts the appropriate response one is to have after seeing the glory of God lived out in the raising of a dead man.

From that day on … (11:45-53)

Not everyone responded as those mentioned in verse 45. Word made its way to the Pharisees which resulted in a meeting of the Sanhedrin. Caiaphas the chief priest speaks, and John 11:53 states that, “from that day on they plotted to take his life.”

The raising of Lazarus thus serves a fourth role for John. It is the last great sign of Jesus’ identity and authority that becomes the tipping point for Jesus’ opposition. What had been brewing as a controversy is now becoming a plot for death.

John’s readers find themselves in the midst of two realities: it is clear Jesus is the Messiah, Son of God, and raiser of the dead and yet on a path toward his own death. Even still, the death and raising of Lazarus is but a foreshadowing of what awaits “the Resurrection” himself. The narrative moves along toward this end and Jesus’ identity and mission become clearer. The appropriate response is obvious. It is up to the reader to see his glory and believe in him.

Matt Baird is assistant professor of Christian ministry and director of the graduate program in the School of Christian Studies at East Texas Baptist University.