“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25)
This is the 5th I AM statement made by Jesus. In this series of ‘I AM’ articles by Fresh Truth, we found that these sayings are Jesus claims to be both the promised Messiah and the God of Israel. The above statement is Jesus saying He is the author of life (Acts 3:15). He says, knowing Him we will have life, and not knowing Him we will not have life. In this article we want to discuss why Jesus is the Resurrection and the life according to scripture.
Jesus proving, He is the Messiah:
The above statement was to show He is the Messiah. There was a question that John the Baptist wanted to ask Jesus while he was in prison. He sends two of his disciples to Jesus with his message:
“Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” (Mat 11:3-6)
The question asked by John the Baptist’s disciples was, ‘Are You the Messiah?’ Now with the reply Jesus gave, John and his disciples would have recognised these as messianic claims. It was Jesus fulfilling the prophecies spoken of by Isaiah.
‘Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Then the lame shall leap like a deer,
And the tongue of the dumb sing.’(Isa 35: 5 -6)
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good news to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn.” (Isa 61:1-2)
When Jesus tells these disciples of John to report back to him ‘what you hear and see’, He was proving who He was not only by His words but by His actions. Not only did Jesus make bold claims to be both God and the Messiah of Israel, but He authenticated His claims with miracles to prove that He is who He says He is. For example, when Jesus says, ‘I AM the bread of life,’ He proves it with the feeding of the 5000 (John 6:1-14); When Jesus says, ‘I AM the light of the world,’ he proves it by healing a man born blind (John 8-9); When He says, ‘I AM the resurrection and the life,’ He proves it by raising Lazarus from the dead. In John 11, Jesus was told three times, if only He was there when Lazarus was sick, he would not have died. We know from the text; Jesus delayed His travel to the region of Judea on purpose, because the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead was to bring greater glory to God. This resurrection of Lazarus was a preview of what was to come in terms of Jesus own resurrection from the dead. This resurrection of Lazarus was to display his divine power over death and life. It was to prove that He is the resurrection and the Life.
Jesus The second Adam:
Our next point we look at is, Jesus as the second Adam. This is important to understand in making sense of why Jesus is the Resurrection and life because through one man came death, and through the other man will come eternal life. There are similarities between the first man Adam and the last Adam (Jesus). Both men had no human father. Both were without sin from the beginning before Adam sinned and brought the curse of death on all humanity. Even after Jesus was raised from the dead Mary Magdalene had mistaken Jesus as the gardener which was Adam’s job in the Garden of Eden. However, where the first Adam failed in his disobedience in keeping God’s command, the second Adam succeeded by being obedient to God the Father even to the point of death. The first man Adam sinned once and doomed all humanity to the curse of death. The second man Adam came to undo the curse of death and to give us life. Jesus is the second Adam because He offers life and resurrection through Himself, where the first Adam offered us only death.
Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. (Rom 5:18-19)
For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. (1 Cor 15:21-22)
Jesus the resurrection hope from the Old testament:
Our last point we want to look at is Jesus as the resurrection hope from the Old Testament. During Jesus time, there were those who did not believe in the resurrection. Jesus tells them:
“You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God… But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” (Matt. 22:29b, 31-32).
It’s important for us to look at scripture with the same lens’ that Jesus views scripture. Afterall, He is the author of the Bible. Let’s have a look at a few examples of resurrection in the Old Testament.
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
Some to everlasting life,
Some to shame and everlasting contempt (Dan 12:2)
The is the first mention in the Old Testament of a future bodily resurrection from the grave of both the wicked and the righteous. The righteous will be resurrected to eternal life, and the wicked will be resurrected to eternal damnation. Jesus confirms this in John’s gospel
Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. (John 5:28-29)
Isaiah speaks of those in the grave being resurrected as waking up from the grave one day in the future. Those who believe in Jesus as the resurrection and the life can have hope that He is the one who will wake us from the grave.
Your dead shall live;
Together with my dead body they shall arise.
Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust;
For your dew is like the dew of herbs,
And the earth shall cast out the dead. (Isaiah 26:19)
In Psalm 71:20, it is God Himself who will revive us and raise us from the grave. Jesus is saying He is the one who will raise us from the grave because in Him is the resurrection and Life.
You, who have shown me great and severe troubles,
Shall revive me again,
And bring me up again from the depths of the earth. (Psalm 71:20)
Acts 24:15 further backs this up as it says:
I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.
Psalm 16:10 says:
For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.