(a) Describe the event in Bethany which made Jesus speak of himself as the "Resurrection and the Life". (b) What two lessons can we draw from the declaratio...

Answer Details

(a) The event at Bethany: the raising of Lazarus (John 11:1-44)

Lazarus of Bethany, the brother of Mary and Martha, fell seriously ill. His sisters sent word to Jesus, but Jesus said that the sickness was not unto death but for the glory of God, and He deliberately stayed two more days where He was. By the time He arrived at Bethany with His disciples, Lazarus had already died and had been in the tomb four days, and many Jews had come to console Mary and Martha.

When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet Him and said, \"Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died,\" yet she added that she still believed God would grant Jesus whatever He asked. Jesus told her, \"Your brother will rise again.\" Martha replied that she knew he would rise again in the resurrection at the last day. It was then that Jesus made the great declaration:

\"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.\"

Martha confessed her faith, saying that He was the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world. Deeply moved and weeping, Jesus went to the tomb, which was a cave with a stone lying against it. He ordered the stone to be taken away. Martha objected that after four days there would be a stench, but Jesus reminded her that if she believed she would see the glory of God. Jesus lifted up His eyes, thanked the Father for hearing Him, and then cried with a loud voice, \"Lazarus, come out.\" The dead man came out, still bound hand and foot with grave clothes and his face wrapped in a cloth, and Jesus said, \"Unbind him, and let him go.\" As a result many of the Jews who had witnessed the miracle believed in Jesus.

(b) Two lessons we can draw from the declaration

1. Jesus is the source of eternal life and the conqueror of death. For those who believe in Him, physical death of the body is not the end; He gives resurrection and everlasting life, so the believer passes from death into life eternal with God.
2. Faith in Christ is the condition for sharing in this life. Only those who put their trust in Jesus receive the resurrection and life He offers, therefore we must believe in Him as the Christ, the Son of God, through whom the glory of God is made manifest.