I Am The Resurrection And The Life

Easter 2026 I Am The Resurrection and The Life

Text: John 11:1-44, 1:12, 11:25-26

Intro: Easter is a day we celebrate the life and resurrection of Jesus. If we’re honest, many of us walk in here today carrying something dark that feels like death. Maybe it’s not physical death—maybe it’s a relationship that feels beyond repair (show pic), a diagnosis you didn’t expect, a future that didn’t turn out the way you thought it would, or grief that still hasn’t let go of you (show pic). We try to manage it. We distract ourselves. We tell ourselves we’re fine. There comes a moment, quietly or suddenly, when we realize we’re not in control and we can’t fix what’s broken.

Easter doesn’t ignore death; it confronts it (show pic of graveside). In John 11, death shows up uninvited, hope seems delayed, and God feels absent. Right in the middle of that moment, Jesus makes one of the boldest statements in all of Scripture: “I am the resurrection and the life.” The question is—what does that mean for us?

Principles from John 11

If Jesus Isn’t Finished Neither Are You John 11:1-4. Bethany is on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
Mary anointed the Lord with oil and wiped her feet with her hair 11:2. Some believe she is possibly the woman caught in adultery in John 8.
Mary and Martha’s brother, Lazarus, was ill.
1. Jesus was two days away. He couldn’t send a text, email, or telegram, or make a call. Lazarus was very ill, and they were concerned.
2. His sickness was not common; it was serious, so they sent for Jesus.
Jesus had a reputation for being a miracle worker: the blind see, the lame walk, and the dead are raised. Jesus didn’t heal every sick person in Israel, but seemed selective in who he healed, as if his agenda was not to end every disease, but to teach others about himself through these miracles.
If Jesus were to heal anybody, it would be his longtime friend Lazarus. So Martha sent for Jesus, and they waited, but Jesus never showed, and Lazarus died.
Jesus heard the news and said that his illness does not lead to death, and a better translation (NKJV, NIV) is that this illness does not end in death. 11:4a
Jesus isn’t saying that Lazarus won’t die but that the end of the story will not be death, and God’s ultimate plan is to glorify God. 11:4b
For everyone who believes in Jesus, death is not the end. Jesus promises life over and over again. Remember that only God brings life out of death.
In a different scene back in Bethany, Martha and Mary are preparing for a funeral, and don’t know what Jesus said to his disciples about Lazarus’ illness; they just know what they know - pain.
The pain of death, divorce, bankruptcy, firings, and betrayal is real.
As a follower of Jesus, where do you get your reality? especially when we hurt or in pain
1. From what you see - a realist, what you see is what you get. Death is harder when it is out of order and unexpected.
2. From What you Feel - If I feel happy, others are happy, and if I am pitiful, so are those around me.
3. From what you know of God’s word. No matter what it looks like or feels like, nothing is over. God always has the final word. Nothing is over until Jesus says so: broken marriages, financial bad decisions, etc.
11:17 When Jesus reached Bethany, Lazarus had been dead for four days. Jews believed that the spirit hung around the body sometimes for 3 days just to make sure there wasn’t a misdiagnosis. On the 4th day, when decomposition set in and the body started to stink, the spirit was finally gone.
Jesus waited, so there was no question that when Lazarus resurrected, it could only come from God.
In the Jewish mind, Lazarus was not just dead, he was dead, really dead, mega dead.

Your dysfunctional marriage, rebellious child, broken relationships, unrest at work, don’t have the final word, no matter how bad they are - Jesus does.

II. The Love of God Doesn’t Always Feel Loving John 11:5-6

Jesus loved each one individually. 11:3, 5, 35-36
When Jesus saw the grief of Mary and Martha, he wept. 11:35 Whoever determined the verse numbers thought that these two words belonged in their own verse, as what happened was so significant that these words needed to stand alone.
The Son of God, who placed the stars in the sky, wept with two broken-hearted sisters.
Jesus’ tears here are confusing. Jesus knew that in 10 minutes, Lazarus would be out of the grave and everyone would be reunited and rejoicing. 11:4
Imagine what would happen later when Lazarus would come back from the dead.
Why did Jesus weep with Mary if he knew that he was about to resolve the issue?
1. Jesus wants you to understand how he feels about you, in your pain. Even when Jesus knows the pain is temporary, he knows what you feel, and he weeps with you.
2. Jesus already sees the resolution to your story, and the beautiful moment when you reunite with lost loved ones, and all the sad things in your life become untrue. He will wipe away every tear, but today, the Son of God still weeps with you because his heart knits to yours.
When Jesus heard about Lazarus’ illness, he stayed longer, which made no sense. 11:6 Jesus loved Lazarus, but He didn’t show it by giving Lazarus time and attention.

Make your wife have an appointment.

When those you love ask for your time, you give it. You don’t have them schedule an appointment - you just give it because you would do anything for those you love.
We rush to help in a crisis because if we come too late, our opportunity to help is over.
1. How long is too long for Jesus? When is it too late for Jesus to step into our pain?
2. The longer Jesus waited, the more hopeless the situation became, revealing He was the only answer available.
We need to stop putting in concrete that our expectations are always right, and when Jesus does something different from our expectations, we consider Him unloving.

When Ted Turner (show pic), media mogul and multi-billionaire (the man who founded CNN and TBS), was in high school, he was on fire for Jesus. Most people don’t know that about him, but he was. In fact, he felt called to be a missionary. But when he was 15, his younger sister, Mary Jane, aged 12, contracted lupus, a degenerative tissue disease, and for the next several years, he watched as she basically wasted away. Ted regularly came home from school, sat by her bed, held her hand, and tried to comfort her. He prayed for her recovery, but after several years of misery, she died. Ted's dad, Ed Turner, the family’s spiritual anchor, said, "If that's the type of God he is, then I want nothing to do with him." When Ted saw his dad’s faith crumble, he eventually lost his own. He said in an interview years later, “I was taught that God was love and God was powerful, and I couldn’t understand, if that was true, how someone so innocent should be allowed to suffer like that.”

We need to understand God’s love in light of how the Bible describes it, not how we imagine it. God’s love is not a pampering love but a perfecting love.
Ways we see the love of God in scripture:
1. To grow us - God reveals His love in what He brings and allows in our lives to shape us into Jesus. Rom. 8:29 God is not satisfied with who you are today as He shapes you into Jesus, and none of us measure up to Jesus. Heb. 12:6
2. To give us good - This is a great day, and we are in a season of rejoicing at NorthWoods Church, but every day is not this one, as some include deep pain.

Imodium, getting sick before Sunday services, wondering if anyone will show up. Ps. 27:13, 34:8, whether there is a large crowd or I am sick in a bathroom - God loves me. In the hospital, the funeral home, or a celebration, God’s love doesn’t change.

Over Time - God’s love can’t be measured in a moment, but can always be measured in a lifetime, and even more so, God’s love is proven over eternity through Jesus. Rom. 8:31 Some seasons it looks like the enemy is winning, but God’s love will always overcome and endure in your life. For every follower of Jesus, God is on your side.
Without your contributions, God’s love exists separate from your success or failure. Your priorities are jumbled, your pride is winning, your lust is overwhelming you, or you feel as if you have never been better spiritually; either way, God’s love is consistent.
Beyond your situation - God’s love is always beyond our situation. Mary and Martha grieve the death of their brother and want to measure God’s love by their situation, but they are about to understand that God’s love goes beyond a moment in time. Paul promises that nothing can separate us from the love of God. Rom. 8:35-39

III. The safest Place is in the middle of God’s will 11:7-10

Jesus heads back to Jerusalem, specifically to Bethany, where Lazarus was.
The last time Jesus was in Jerusalem, there was a movement to kill him. 11:7-8
One disciple reminded Jesus of the people in Jerusalem who desired to stone him. 11:8
Jesus speaks of the light outside and compares it to the light inside us, given by God. Jesus knew when He walked in submission to God, He walked by the light, and nothing would hurt Him.
There will still be pain and death, but it won’t be lasting, eternal pain. To walk in the light, we choose the harder thing and do what is right, even when it is painful. 11:9-10
The safest place for every believer is to be in the middle of God’s will. The safest place is in the middle of God’s will, not because there’s no pain but because there’s safety in a sweet, intimate relationship with God.
Following Jesus and living in the light requires sacrificing comforts. Our responsibility is to pin our ears back and follow Jesus, and that will include the hard things.

IV. God Uses Good and Painful Experiences For His Glory 11:11-16

Jesus tells His disciples that Lazarus has fallen asleep, which was His way of gently telling them that Lazarus was dead, but they didn’t understand. 11:11-13
The disciples heard what they wanted to hear. Why would you walk for two days to wake up someone asleep? They won’t be asleep in two days.
Throughout scripture, sleep is a metaphor for death. The disciples respond - “Hey, Jesus, sleepy people, wake up.” Jesus clearly states that Lazarus is dead. 11:14-15
God uses every circumstance for His glory and for my good.
Jesus says he is glad Lazarus is dead so that you may believe. Jesus cares that you believe in Him so much that He will allow pain in your life. In painful moments of life, trust and believe that God's character is good and loving.

What if the death of your loved one brings others to Christ? Is it worth it for there to be eternal effects from death that put a believer into God’s presence?

V. Believing Matters More Than Anything 11:17-26

You can picture the scene of grieving amid the death of Lazarus. 11:17-19
Martha goes to Jesus and gives her heavy heartache to Jesus. She states facts. 11:20-22
1. Had Jesus been there, my brother would not have died 11:21. Fact
2. Whatever you ask from God, I know that He will give it to you. 11:22 Fact
Jesus responds to Martha with a massive truth - your brother will rise again, and Martha tries to figure out a way to make Jesus’s statement plausible. 11:23-24
Jesus tells them a massive truth: I am the resurrection and the life. 11:25
1. Jesus states this days before His own resurrection. Before He raises Lazarus from the dead, He teaches them that He is the only hope when facing death.
2. Jesus doesn’t say that he resurrects or gives life, but His very nature is a resurrection and life. To have Jesus is to have resurrection and life within.
Do you believe this? This question has more eternal impact than any other question.
“Do you believe this?” 11:26 If you do, there’s a promise attached. 11:26.
1. This promise is for everyone. Jesus’ offer is for everyone, but each person must receive it.
2. Believe and receive are tied together. John 1:12. We must receive Jesus for ourselves, because only those who receive the benefit of these promises.
“What does it mean to receive him?”
1. It doesn’t mean living a good enough life to earn the title, “child of God.” That’s not receiving, that’s earning.
2. It doesn’t mean merely going through a church ritual, such as baptism or confirmation. Those are accomplishments, as per the checklist.

How a bride and groom receive each other on their wedding day. (show pic - vows and exchange of vows) One says, “I want you in my life. Do you receive me?” The other says, “Yes, I receive you. From now on, we'll go together. Where you go, I go. From this point, I belong to you, and you belong to me.” Have you received him personally? Have you ever let him into your life and let him take full control of you? If you’re not sure, you can do that right now, today.

Receiving him initially means what you think it does; you receive him as you would a gift offered to you. If someone offers you a gift, open your hands and receive it.
The benefits of receiving Jesus: Jesus promises that all who believe in him will never die. 11:25-26
1. I tell grieving families at funerals, “Many people will say, ‘Oh, it’s so sad you lost so-and-so this year.’ You haven’t really lost them, you’ve just lost contact with them for a little while.
2. If you could see them now, you wouldn’t feel sad for them; they feel sad for you! One day soon, we’ll see that Jesus wasn’t absent after all.
What Jesus meant is that for his followers, death would not really be death, not in the final, eternal sense. His followers will wake up from death like waking from a bad dream.
Do. You. Believe. This? 11:26-27 The whole point of staring death in the eye is so that you may believe.

Conclusion:

I received a gift, beautifully wrapped, paid for, and chosen just for you. (Bobby and gift photos, John 1:12) But instead of opening it, you just hold onto it. You admire it. You think about it. You even bring it to church. You never truly receive it. It doesn’t matter how valuable the gift is; if you don’t receive it, it’s not yours. The gift Jesus gives is to be in charge of your life: will you allow this gift to be your boss? That’s what Jesus is saying. I can’t carry Him around with no impact. We must unwrap our gift and allow it to take authority over our lives. Rom. 10:9, John 14:15

Jesus offers Resurrection life, paid for, but you must receive it. The question isn’t, “Do you know about Him?” The question is, “Have you received Him?”

Transition into spiritual survey. Put on the LED, Tap

Spiritual Survey

Before today, I received Jesus into my life, and I am grateful He has saved me.
I am receiving Jesus today as my Savior and Lord.
I do not know if I have received Jesus, but I want to know more.
I have received Jesus into my life, and now I want to be obedient to Jesus and be baptized.
I have not received Jesus into my life as my Savior, and I have no desire to do so at this time.

I Am The Resurrection And The Life

Resource Info

Bobby Pell

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