What Did Jesus Mean When He Said, "I am the Resurrection?"

A 7  minute listen or read. Click below on the player to listen, or read below the traditional blog post. Find all previous "blogscript" podcasts HERE or find under Gospel Life Learning on Apple, Spotify, or Google podcasts. 

 

What did Jesus mean when he said, “I am the Resurrection and the Life”? (John 11:25)

It's the time of the year where we are coming into Holy Week and all Christians around the world will have their minds on the crucifixion of Christ and then his miraculous resurrection by which he showed us that death is not an ultimate end.

So let's tap our brains a bit and see what we already know or what we recall about what was happening when Jesus said this. When Jesus said, “I am the Resurrection and the life;” who was he speaking to, where was he, and what were the circumstances happening?

If you recall correctly, you remembered that Jesus said this to Martha. This happened after Lazarus had died, and had in fact been dead for a few days. Jesus was just outside Martha and Mary's town, and Martha knew he was coming and went out on the road to meet him.

And Martha was not exactly happy. She was perhaps, exasperated and flustered. She said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Then Martha tells Jesus that she still knows that God will do for Jesus whatever he asks. And how does Jesus respond? Jesus says, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha then answers and says, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” And then Jesus replies, “I am the resurrection and the life.”

And right here I want to pause for a little while; and look at what Jesus said to Martha. It is another one of those many instances when the word we use to translate misses a little something; but that little something is actually quite meaningful.

Which Parable Can Give Us A Quick, Daily, Spiritual Self-Assessment?

An 11 minute listen or read. Click below on the player to listen, or read below the traditional blog post. Find all previous "blogscript" podcasts HERE or find under Gospel Life Learning on Apple, Spotify, or Google podcasts. 

The Parable of the Sower? Or maybe this parable needs a new name. 

From what perspective did you learn to understand Jesus' parable of the sower?   It is Mark chapter 4.  A lot of us, were taught to read this parable from the perspective of the farmer, from the perspective of the person who is scattering the seed. After all, it is subtitled in our Bibles "The Parable of the Sower," and it starts with Jesus telling about the main character, saying "The sower went out to sow." 

However, as I was taking notes and reading this parable for the book He Called: 56 Daily Studies and Reflections with the Words of Christ, I felt like the Lord was showing me to read this parable from the perspective of the seeds and the soil. From that perspective,  this story gives us a framework for a quick, daily, spiritual assessment of ourselves. 

In this story, there is actually only one sentence in it about the farmer. The first sentence. For the rest of the story, the entirety of it is about the seeds and the conditions of the soil.  In my opinion,  I think this parable should be called "The Parable of the Seeds and Soils." It is a very important teaching of Jesus. Let's picture the scene: