Death and Resurrection < August 21st, 2005     

Epistle: Hebrews 12:28-29; 13:1-8 Gospel: St. John 11:1-45 especially vs. 25: "Jesus said to her, 'I Am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.'"

Three times in the account of the raising of Lazarus, prior to the Lord Jesus' command to "Come out," the onlookers expressed regret: first Martha, then Mary, and finally the mourners. Each sister said, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died" (vss. 21,32). Then, "some" among the mourners reflect similar thinking by asking, "Could not this Man, Who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?" (vs. 37).

Two assumptions lie behind all of these remarks: first, that once death overtook Lazarus, there was no possible hope of his returning from the grave, and, second, that while the Lord Jesus had some power to restrain death through healing, His was only a preventive power. If only He had come before Lazarus died! Plainly, the Lord shattered both of these suppositions when He called Lazarus back to life. A man dead four days walked out of his tomb, and the Lord Jesus clearly demonstrated His great power over death, paling even the good work of medical preventive intervention. The Lord's words in verses 25 and 26 demand that we reevaluate even our concepts of death and Resurrection. Therefore, let us, like those at Bethany, consider the meaning of what the Lord did and said. As we do, we shall find a blessing, for the raising of Lazarus prepares us to enter into the Lord Jesus' own death and Resurrection during Great and Holy Week just ahead.

First, observe how the Lord used what Martha said about death and resurrection: "I know that he [Lazarus] will rise again in the resurrection at the last day" (vs. 24). Without countering her confession of faith, a commonly held belief among Jews that in the age to come all the dead would be raised from their graves to face God's judgment, the Lord Jesus declared, "I Am the resurrection and the life" (vs. 25).

Second, the Lord pressed this existing article of Jewish belief one step beyond. While He agrees that the righteous, after rising from the dead, will live eternally, He links the prospect of eternal life to Himself. "He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live" (vs. 25). Furthermore, the Lord deepened this truth by varying the expected preposition "in," a fact not apparent in most translations. He replaced "in" with the unusual "into." He literally says, "He who believes 'into' Me." The usage is rare outside the New Testament. The Lord's "into" emphasized a favorite theme of Apostolic teaching, that Christians are united with Christ.

What does it mean to be "into" or "with" Christ? Being united "with" or "into" Christ is essential for eternal life (vs. 26). By union "with" Christ one is "made righteous" (Rom. 5:19), and "raised up with Jesus" (2 Cor. 4:14). In addition, being "into" Christ changes how one lives now; for the Christian receives, follows, believes in, and obeys Christ Jesus first, before all other rulers. Christian Faith depends on one's relationship with the Lord Jesus as a Person.
 

Does one invest himself in Christ Jesus? Maintain his relationship with Christ? If so, He lives into Christ.

Third, when the Lord equates Himself with Resurrection and Life, He reveals the truth that mystical entry into relationship with Him means that the future Resurrection already has begun to function within those who believe in Christ. This is the point of verse 26. The age to come, Resurrection, is now operative within the Faithful who die and are raised spiritually in Baptism "into" Christ.

As St. Paul says, "Death hath no more dominion" over the person who truly is committed to and united to the Lord in heart, soul, body, and mind (Rom. 6:9).

                                                                               - from Dynamis! Orthodox Christian Devotionals