Falaite Sepitema 10, 2021
“I am the resurrection and the life”
Ko au pē ko e Toetu‘u, pea mo e Mo‘ui
Sione 11 (John 11)
(v. 25-27) Pea me‘a ‘e Sīsū ki ai, Ko au pē ko e Toetu‘u, pea mo e Mo‘ui: ko ia ‘oku tui pīkitai kiate au, ne ongo kuo pekia, ka te ne mo‘ui pē: pea ‘ilonga ‘a ia ‘oku mo‘ui mo tui pīkitai kiate au ‘e ‘ikai ‘aupito te ne mate, ‘o ta‘engata. ‘Oku ke tui ki he me‘a ko ia, ‘o?
Pea pehē ‘e ia ki ai, ‘Io, ‘Eiki: kuo u tui ko e Mīsaia koe, ko e ‘Alo ‘o e ‘Otua, ko e Toko Taha ka hoko mai ki māmani.
(v. 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.”
G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible
Here we have the account of the last sign wrought by Jesus as recorded by John, namely, the raising of Lazarus. Very beautiful in this connection is the depiction of the sorrow of the sisters, and our Lord's method of dealing with each of them in turn. His approach to the grave revealed some of the deepest things in His own attitude. He was troubled in the presence of the sin and unbelief which had its final expression in death. Nevertheless, He acted with complete authority, and as a sign of His redeeming power raised Lazarus, and restored him to his loved ones.
This last sign raised the opposition of His foes to definite activity. The degraded condition of things is seen in the fact that the chief priests, who were Sadducees, made common with the Pharisees in their action against Jesus. It was at this point that Caiaphas gave his advice characterized by cunning and his contempt for Jesus. As a result, the council determined on the Master's death. It was then that Jesus retired into "a country near to the wilderness," where He tarried for a while with His disciples.
David Guzik :: Study Guide for John 11
He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live: Jesus boldly challenged Martha to trust that He was the source of eternal life. Jesus presented Himself as the champion over death. While humanity in general fears death, the Christian can only fear dying. The believer will never die, but simply make an instant transition from an old life to a new life.
“Those that believe in Jesus Christ appear to die, but yet they live. They are not in the grave, they are for everwith the Lord. They are not unconscious they are with their Lord in Paradise. Death cannot kill a believer, it can only usher him into a freer form of life.” (Spurgeon)
“Jesus does not of course mean that the believer will not die physically. Lazarus was dead even then, and millions of Jesus’ followers have died since. But He means that he will not die in the sense in which death has eternal significance.” (Morris)
“Death comes to the ungodly man as a penal infliction, but to the righteous as a summons to his Father’s palace: to the sinner it is an execution, to the saint an undressing. Death to the wicked is the King of terrors: death to the saint is the end of terrors, the commencement of glory.” (Spurgeon)
“In the primitive Church, when they repeated that article of the creed, ‘I believe in the resurrection of the flesh,’ they would point to their bodies and say, etiam hujus carnis, even of this very flesh.” (Trapp)
Jesus made an enormous claim: I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. Only God could say such things in truth.
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