And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
Jesus himself is the resurrection and the life, the Author and source of all resurrection and life. He has life in himself, original, unborrowed and underived, and though about to die he stands as conqueror of the grave with right and power to give eternal life. Whoever lives and believes in him shall never die in the final sense, not finally perish or remain under death forever, for death is but a sleep until he awakens his own. The promise pointed both to the immediate raising of Lazarus as pledge and to the general resurrection, when at the second coming the righteous dead will be raised incorruptible and the living righteous translated without seeing death to immortal life with him forever. His question calls for personal faith, for everlasting life comes through knowing him and receiving him as Saviour, and that faith sustains even the dying believer with peace and hope of awakening to see him as he is.
Words and Bethany Setting
The promise was spoken at Bethany, where Jesus often rested at the house of Lazarus. He spoke to direct Martha's thoughts to Himself to strengthen her faith in His power, and His question calls for faith in Him, faith to be exercised for the sick and afflicted. Martha answered by confessing Him as the Christ, the Son of God come into the world, declaring belief in His Messiahship. Her answer showed faith in His divinity and confidence that He is able to do whatever He pleases, whatever He wills, though she did not fully grasp the full significance of His words about resurrection and eternal life.
Lazarus's death was permitted so that his raising could give crowning evidence that Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus delayed His arrival by divine wisdom, and Lazarus died before He raised him. He had lain four days in the grave and his body had already seen corruption. The raising was convincing proof of His divinity and divine authority and control over death, showing that through Him the Father was revealed.
Jesus showed sympathy at the grave and by His word broke the slumbers of the dead, bringing a dead brother back from the grave. In doing so He gave Mary and Martha their brother back and filled them with joy, caring for the bereaved and bringing hope in the face of death. This demonstrated His character as Saviour and Lifegiver with power over death and the grave. It stands as His greatest miracle.
The miracle led many to believe in Him and glorify God. Yet hardened opponents, priests and elders, refused to recognize the evidence of His divine authority. Rejecting this evidence hardened hearts into unbelief and led toward ruin. Lazarus himself had no experience from the time he was dead to recount or relate, for the dead know nothing, though after being raised he testified to Christ's divine power as the source of life.
Christ the Resurrection Life
Jesus himself is the resurrection and the life, the Author and source of resurrection and life to whom faith is to be directed for eternal life and not final perishing. In him is life original, unborrowed, underived, and his divinity is the believer's assurance of eternal life. Though soon to die upon the cross, he stands as conqueror of the grave holding the keys of death, with right and authority and power to give eternal life.
He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the truth and the life itself in whom Lazarus believed and by whom Lazarus was raised, showing that death does not prevent him from restoring life. He is the great Restorer who applies the Balm of Gilead and who repeatedly vanquished death. What physicians aim to do in prolonging life he accomplished in the fullest sense as Giver of life, and he gives physicians their reason and intelligence for that work.
Raising the dead to life was just as certainly his mission as the Pattern Man as toiling as a carpenter while hiding his divine mission, as treading the foaming white-capped billows on the Sea of Galilee, and as dying as man's sacrifice on the cross to lift the whole race to a new and perfect life. He knew in raising Lazarus that he would pay the ransom for that life on the cross, for his death was for every person and his rescue from death offers life to those who return to loyalty. He paid the penalty under the law's sentence and gives believers life through his merits, pleading for them before the Father as their surety. His death and descent into the grave brightened the tomb for those who die in faith, and through his death and resurrection he secured and made possible everlasting life for all who know him and believe and receive him. His promise as source of life beyond death gave reason to trust him even while watching him suffer and die.
Death Overcome by Resurrection
To live and believe in him is to never die in the final sense, never to finally perish or become extinct, never to remain under death or be lost to death forever. That life is eternal life through him, imparted through his righteousness and sustained by faith in him, and those who share his divine nature receive its promise even though they may die. Death is therefore a small matter of little moment to the believer. Christ looks upon it as sleep — silence, darkness, sleep — and to the believing one to die is to sleep, because life is hid with Christ in God.
Believers still experience death, even while doing their duty, yet they only sleep until Jesus raises them to share eternal glory. Even if they die they shall live, because he lives to make intercession for them and therefore they shall live also. His resurrection and continuing life make their future life and immortality certain, so whoever lives and believes has everlasting life and will never be lost to death, for Christ will give life and raise the dead at the last day. His life, love, and guardianship shut believers in with God in sweet communion waking and sleeping, with peace like a river.
The promise carries a double meaning, pointing both to the immediate raising of Lazarus and to the general resurrection of all the righteous. The raising of Lazarus is a representation and pledge of that larger resurrection, an assurance that it will be accomplished by the Saviour's power. For living believers the promise looks forward to the second coming, when the righteous dead will be raised incorruptible and the living righteous will be translated to heaven without seeing death. Then those who live and believe will be raised to glorious, immortal life to be with him forever.
Whoever lives and believes receives a life that death cannot finally take away. Christ restores the life lost through sin, has the right and power to give immortality, and will raise believers at the last day to everlasting life where they will never again experience death or sorrow. The son of the widow of Nain, Jairus' daughter, and Lazarus were raised during his ministry to mortal life and remained subject to death and decay. By contrast, the faithful saints summoned from the grave when he came forth were raised to everlasting life and immortality as firstfruits and trophies of his victory over death and the grave, to be with him where he is never more to see death or experience sorrow, as samples and a symbol of the final resurrection of all who receive and believe, showing that the same power that raised Christ will raise his church and glorify it with him.
Faith Receiving Eternal Life
Whoever lives and believes has everlasting life through Christ, and though such ones die they shall live again and not be lost to death forever. Their life is hid with Christ in God, so that death is a small matter of little moment, regarded as sleep — silence, darkness, sleep — and to the believing one to die is to sleep until God brings with Him all that sleep in Jesus. This life is imparted through Christ's righteousness to those who share His divine nature, and it is sustained by faith in Him, so that believers will never become extinct but have immortality made certain by His resurrection and continuing life.
Everlasting life comes through knowing Christ and believing in Him, whose death and resurrection make that life possible. It means receiving Jesus Christ as a personal Saviour, living and believing in Him so as never to die in the final sense. When He came forth He proclaimed Himself the resurrection and the life and summoned faithful saints from the grave as firstfruits of His power to be with Him where He is, never more to see death or experience sorrow. Unlike the son of the widow of Nain and Jairus' daughter and Lazarus, who during His ministry were raised to mortal life and remained subject to death and decay, those raised at His resurrection were raised to everlasting life and immortality as trophies of His victory over death and the grave, samples and a symbol of the final resurrection of all who receive and believe, showing that the same power that raised Christ will raise His church and glorify it with Him.
He lives to make intercession for those who live and believe, and because He lives they shall live also even if they die. He pleads His merits before the Father as their surety, having paid the penalty that stood against them under the sentence of the law, and gives them life through those merits. His life, love, and guardianship are high and holy privileges that shut believers in with God in sweet communion waking and sleeping, with peace like a river.
Acceptance through Christ carries with it the obligation to obey, for the law remains unchanged, and those accepted are to be renewed in mind. His gift makes it possible for fallen people to be restored and to stand right with God, rescued from death as they return to loyalty to Him, with Christ knowing in raising Lazarus that He would pay the ransom for that life on the cross for every person. Those who follow Him are to join His work of restoring God's moral image in humanity. Belief in Him, who has power over death and the grave as shown in the raising of Lazarus as crowning evidence that He is the Son of God, is tied to salvation, and His question of faith is to be exercised for the sick and afflicted, while rejecting such evidence hardens hearts into unbelief toward ruin.
Comfort in Sorrow and Death
At a funeral the pledge that everyone who lives and trusts will never die brings comfort through the hope of the resurrection of the righteous, for though believers pass through death they will live again. It is a promise spoken to the dying believer in the solemn moment when life forces weaken and the eye grows dim and the pulse grows feeble and the heart refuses to work. Then Jesus draws near unseen by mortal vision as the Angel of peace saying Fear not, whispering promise and hope and courage and peace while the soul is in converse with eternal realities. In that hour He becomes all and in all to the soul, because He lives and those in whom He abides shall live also and will not be allowed to be overcome.
Love for Christ and His love sustain believers through life and death, and faith rests in the hope of resurrection. At death the believer can have strong assurance that the Lifegiver will awaken the dead, who will then see the Saviour as He is. The account shows Christ cares for the bereaved in sympathy at the grave, giving Mary and Martha their brother back and bringing hope in the face of death. As the One who had given life to the dead He is the source of life beyond death, and His promise gave reason to trust Him even while watching Him suffer and die.
What physicians aim to do in prolonging life, Christ accomplished in the fullest sense as Giver of life who gives physicians reason and intelligence for that work. Those who live and believe have eternal life, so although they may die, death does not end their life in Him. His death and descent into the grave brightened the tomb for those who die in faith, and through His death He secured eternal life for all who believe. He is the great restorer who applies the Balm of Gilead and who repeatedly vanquished death.
Jesus himself is the resurrection and the life, the Author and source of all resurrection and life. He has life in himself, original, unborrowed and underived, and though about to die he stands as conqueror of the grave with right and power to give eternal life. Whoever lives and believes in him shall never die in the final sense, not finally perish or remain under death forever, for death is but a sleep until he awakens his own. The promise pointed both to the immediate raising of Lazarus as pledge and to the general resurrection, when at the second coming the righteous dead will be raised incorruptible and the living righteous translated without seeing death to immortal life with him forever. His question calls for personal faith, for everlasting life comes through knowing him and receiving him as Saviour, and that faith sustains even the dying believer with peace and hope of awakening to see him as he is.
Words and Bethany Setting
The promise was spoken at Bethany, where Jesus often rested at the house of Lazarus. He spoke to direct Martha's thoughts to Himself to strengthen her faith in His power, and His question calls for faith in Him, faith to be exercised for the sick and afflicted. Martha answered by confessing Him as the Christ, the Son of God come into the world, declaring belief in His Messiahship. Her answer showed faith in His divinity and confidence that He is able to do whatever He pleases, whatever He wills, though she did not fully grasp the full significance of His words about resurrection and eternal life.
Lazarus's death was permitted so that his raising could give crowning evidence that Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus delayed His arrival by divine wisdom, and Lazarus died before He raised him. He had lain four days in the grave and his body had already seen corruption. The raising was convincing proof of His divinity and divine authority and control over death, showing that through Him the Father was revealed.
Jesus showed sympathy at the grave and by His word broke the slumbers of the dead, bringing a dead brother back from the grave. In doing so He gave Mary and Martha their brother back and filled them with joy, caring for the bereaved and bringing hope in the face of death. This demonstrated His character as Saviour and Lifegiver with power over death and the grave. It stands as His greatest miracle.
The miracle led many to believe in Him and glorify God. Yet hardened opponents, priests and elders, refused to recognize the evidence of His divine authority. Rejecting this evidence hardened hearts into unbelief and led toward ruin. Lazarus himself had no experience from the time he was dead to recount or relate, for the dead know nothing, though after being raised he testified to Christ's divine power as the source of life.
Christ the Resurrection Life
Jesus himself is the resurrection and the life, the Author and source of resurrection and life to whom faith is to be directed for eternal life and not final perishing. In him is life original, unborrowed, underived, and his divinity is the believer's assurance of eternal life. Though soon to die upon the cross, he stands as conqueror of the grave holding the keys of death, with right and authority and power to give eternal life.
He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the truth and the life itself in whom Lazarus believed and by whom Lazarus was raised, showing that death does not prevent him from restoring life. He is the great Restorer who applies the Balm of Gilead and who repeatedly vanquished death. What physicians aim to do in prolonging life he accomplished in the fullest sense as Giver of life, and he gives physicians their reason and intelligence for that work.
Raising the dead to life was just as certainly his mission as the Pattern Man as toiling as a carpenter while hiding his divine mission, as treading the foaming white-capped billows on the Sea of Galilee, and as dying as man's sacrifice on the cross to lift the whole race to a new and perfect life. He knew in raising Lazarus that he would pay the ransom for that life on the cross, for his death was for every person and his rescue from death offers life to those who return to loyalty. He paid the penalty under the law's sentence and gives believers life through his merits, pleading for them before the Father as their surety. His death and descent into the grave brightened the tomb for those who die in faith, and through his death and resurrection he secured and made possible everlasting life for all who know him and believe and receive him. His promise as source of life beyond death gave reason to trust him even while watching him suffer and die.
Death Overcome by Resurrection
To live and believe in him is to never die in the final sense, never to finally perish or become extinct, never to remain under death or be lost to death forever. That life is eternal life through him, imparted through his righteousness and sustained by faith in him, and those who share his divine nature receive its promise even though they may die. Death is therefore a small matter of little moment to the believer. Christ looks upon it as sleep — silence, darkness, sleep — and to the believing one to die is to sleep, because life is hid with Christ in God.
Believers still experience death, even while doing their duty, yet they only sleep until Jesus raises them to share eternal glory. Even if they die they shall live, because he lives to make intercession for them and therefore they shall live also. His resurrection and continuing life make their future life and immortality certain, so whoever lives and believes has everlasting life and will never be lost to death, for Christ will give life and raise the dead at the last day. His life, love, and guardianship shut believers in with God in sweet communion waking and sleeping, with peace like a river.
The promise carries a double meaning, pointing both to the immediate raising of Lazarus and to the general resurrection of all the righteous. The raising of Lazarus is a representation and pledge of that larger resurrection, an assurance that it will be accomplished by the Saviour's power. For living believers the promise looks forward to the second coming, when the righteous dead will be raised incorruptible and the living righteous will be translated to heaven without seeing death. Then those who live and believe will be raised to glorious, immortal life to be with him forever.
Whoever lives and believes receives a life that death cannot finally take away. Christ restores the life lost through sin, has the right and power to give immortality, and will raise believers at the last day to everlasting life where they will never again experience death or sorrow. The son of the widow of Nain, Jairus' daughter, and Lazarus were raised during his ministry to mortal life and remained subject to death and decay. By contrast, the faithful saints summoned from the grave when he came forth were raised to everlasting life and immortality as firstfruits and trophies of his victory over death and the grave, to be with him where he is never more to see death or experience sorrow, as samples and a symbol of the final resurrection of all who receive and believe, showing that the same power that raised Christ will raise his church and glorify it with him.
Faith Receiving Eternal Life
Whoever lives and believes has everlasting life through Christ, and though such ones die they shall live again and not be lost to death forever. Their life is hid with Christ in God, so that death is a small matter of little moment, regarded as sleep — silence, darkness, sleep — and to the believing one to die is to sleep until God brings with Him all that sleep in Jesus. This life is imparted through Christ's righteousness to those who share His divine nature, and it is sustained by faith in Him, so that believers will never become extinct but have immortality made certain by His resurrection and continuing life.
Everlasting life comes through knowing Christ and believing in Him, whose death and resurrection make that life possible. It means receiving Jesus Christ as a personal Saviour, living and believing in Him so as never to die in the final sense. When He came forth He proclaimed Himself the resurrection and the life and summoned faithful saints from the grave as firstfruits of His power to be with Him where He is, never more to see death or experience sorrow. Unlike the son of the widow of Nain and Jairus' daughter and Lazarus, who during His ministry were raised to mortal life and remained subject to death and decay, those raised at His resurrection were raised to everlasting life and immortality as trophies of His victory over death and the grave, samples and a symbol of the final resurrection of all who receive and believe, showing that the same power that raised Christ will raise His church and glorify it with Him.
He lives to make intercession for those who live and believe, and because He lives they shall live also even if they die. He pleads His merits before the Father as their surety, having paid the penalty that stood against them under the sentence of the law, and gives them life through those merits. His life, love, and guardianship are high and holy privileges that shut believers in with God in sweet communion waking and sleeping, with peace like a river.
Acceptance through Christ carries with it the obligation to obey, for the law remains unchanged, and those accepted are to be renewed in mind. His gift makes it possible for fallen people to be restored and to stand right with God, rescued from death as they return to loyalty to Him, with Christ knowing in raising Lazarus that He would pay the ransom for that life on the cross for every person. Those who follow Him are to join His work of restoring God's moral image in humanity. Belief in Him, who has power over death and the grave as shown in the raising of Lazarus as crowning evidence that He is the Son of God, is tied to salvation, and His question of faith is to be exercised for the sick and afflicted, while rejecting such evidence hardens hearts into unbelief toward ruin.
Comfort in Sorrow and Death
At a funeral the pledge that everyone who lives and trusts will never die brings comfort through the hope of the resurrection of the righteous, for though believers pass through death they will live again. It is a promise spoken to the dying believer in the solemn moment when life forces weaken and the eye grows dim and the pulse grows feeble and the heart refuses to work. Then Jesus draws near unseen by mortal vision as the Angel of peace saying Fear not, whispering promise and hope and courage and peace while the soul is in converse with eternal realities. In that hour He becomes all and in all to the soul, because He lives and those in whom He abides shall live also and will not be allowed to be overcome.
Love for Christ and His love sustain believers through life and death, and faith rests in the hope of resurrection. At death the believer can have strong assurance that the Lifegiver will awaken the dead, who will then see the Saviour as He is. The account shows Christ cares for the bereaved in sympathy at the grave, giving Mary and Martha their brother back and bringing hope in the face of death. As the One who had given life to the dead He is the source of life beyond death, and His promise gave reason to trust Him even while watching Him suffer and die.
What physicians aim to do in prolonging life, Christ accomplished in the fullest sense as Giver of life who gives physicians reason and intelligence for that work. Those who live and believe have eternal life, so although they may die, death does not end their life in Him. His death and descent into the grave brightened the tomb for those who die in faith, and through His death He secured eternal life for all who believe. He is the great restorer who applies the Balm of Gilead and who repeatedly vanquished death.