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THE KING’S BUSINESS
which for the time we cannot understand. Martha had a certain amount of faith in Jesus, viz., faith that He could heal if present (cf. Matt. 8:8-10), but she had not yet quite risen to the faith that He would raise from the dead. v. 22. “But I knew, that even now (And even now I know that), whatsoever Thou shall ask of God, God will give it Thee.”' Here Martha rises to a higher height of faith, not only believing that Jesus could have kept Lazarus from dying, but believ ing that whatever He asked of God “even now" God would grant Him (cf. v. 42). In this utterance we see a faint hope on Martha’s part that Jesus might raise Laza rus from ,the dead in answer to Jesus’ prayers, but she hesitated to come right out and ask Jesus to do this. It showed however, a great faith in Jesus to believe that God ,would give Him whatever He asked. In Christ we top have this privi lege of being in such relations to God that He will give us whatsoever we ask (1 John 3:22; John 14:13, 14; 1 John 5:14, 15). v. 23. “Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again." Jesus perfectly under stood the implication of Martha’s remark and the unexpressed longing of her heart. He always understands our unexpressed longings. Jesus answered, “Thy brother shall rise , again.” Blessed promise! What wonderful expectations it must have awakened in Martha’s heart, and He is saying it to all of us whose loved ones have fallen asleep in Him, “thy brother shall rise again,” “thy husband shall rise again,” “thy child shall rise again.” y. 24. “Martha said unto Him, I knots that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”. Martha was not satisfied even yet, she feared that Jesus referred tG the general resurrection somewhere awa> ■off in the dim and distant future, and she wished to have Lazarus with her at once. Martha had an intelligent faith that there waS to be a resurrection of the body. In that faith there was no element of uncer tainty, it was absolute confidence, she
could say, “I know that he shall rise again.” How many are there of us today who could go even as far as Martha could. We hope that our loved ones shall rise again; we expect that they shall rise again ; we quite confidently believe that they shall rise again,-, büt there are many who profess to be Christians who lack the absolute confi dence in the assurance of God’s Word whereby they can say, “I know that he shall rise again.” v. 25. “Jesus said unJo her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in (on) me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” Jesus here gives Martha a new and glorious thought, about the resurrec tion, He „says, “I AM-THE RESURREC TION AND THE LIFE.” If then, we wish resurrection and life, all we have to do is to get Jesus Himself, for He is the resurrection and the life (cf. 1 John 5:12). Resurrection and life are not the same thing, resurrection has to do with the body, life with the spirit (John 17:3). All men will ultimately receive resurrection through Jesus (1 Cor. 15:22; John 5:28, 29), but only those who believe on Him shall receive life in its highest and truest sense (John 3 :36). In these words of our Lord we have ,another wonderful I AM, and in this “I am” as in the others there is a clear im plication of the Deity of our Lord. Only He that is God could say, “I am the resur rection and the life.” As Jesus is the resurrection and the life it necessarily fol lows that the one who believes on Him, even though he should die, shall live again. v. 26. “And whosoever liveth, (om it, ) and believeth in (on) me, shall never die. Believest thou this?” Here is a very plain declaration that the one who. is alive and believes on Jesus shall never die. But some one will say, “many of those who believe on Jesus do die.” No, they do not die,- they fall asleep; their bodies die and_crum- ble into dust, but the body of the believer is not the believer himself, it is only the house that he inhabits (2 Cor. 5:1), and the believer himself, the spirit, departs to be with Christ ip conscious blessedness
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