Reflecting on John 11:17-27“The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” (John 11:25–26)
In Genesis 3:15 God promises a messiah that will crush the serpents head.
By defeating the serpent, the curse of death (Genesis 2:17) is reversed.
Jesus claims to be the one that will reverse the curse of death.
In Jesus, death is no longer the threat it was before, for we will live.
Not even death can separate us from this hope of life, because of Jesus.
Because of Jesus, we “will never die”, “even though we die”.
Jesus not only invites us to believe this, but to live by believing this.
That is, to allow this hope of death defeated to affect the way we live.
We are like Martha, Mary, and the mourners with them: we face death.
But like them, we can also face it with Jesus, and cling to hope.
Because He lives, we can face tomorrow, but we can also face today.
After stressing the resurrection, Paul urges the Corinthian believers:
“Stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)
This is how we can live by believing in life: by investing fully in the labor of love!
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, Your love has restored us to life. We can now live with faith, hope and love. Help us to stand firm and not be moved when we experience death. Help us to live with faith, hope and love, so that others can experience and believe this too!