‘Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me, though he may die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” '
In her mind Martha was thinking of the last day. But Jesus now brings the idea of the resurrection much closer to home. He wants it to be known that it is not just a hope of something for the future but a certainty for the present. He who stands before her is both the lifegiver now, and the future raiser of the dead. The One Who embodies resurrection is here. It is now not just a far off hope, but something guaranteed by His presence. Because of Him, those who die as His will live again (John 5:28-29). Indeed they who know Him will never die, they will only sleep, for He is the resurrection, the One Who raises the dead, the One Who transforms the dead, the One Who makes immortal, and He is the life, the giver of life, the source of all life, the provider of eternal life, and they are His. By these words Jesus concentrated her attention on Himself. What did she really think about Him?
But these words were also the declaration to all who would hear, of the wonder of His glory. To all who believe He stands as the conqueror of death, as the giver of life, as the raiser of the dead. In Him death has lost its power to destroy. In Him all who are His will have a wonder-filled life that never ends (John 10:10). This is the promise of the resurrection of the righteous. And this is what the raising of Lazarus would foreshadow and illustrate.