This is from a chapter in a book I am reading called Jesus Is… by Judah Smith. I cannot take credit for it. I am posting this though because this chapter really spoke to me and I want it you who are reading this to be impacted as well.
Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life.” I want to take a look at that little phrase, I am. This wasn’t the first time Jesus had said something like this.
In John 8, Jesus was having a heated discussion with the religious teachers of the day, and naturally he was winning. They didn’t like the fact that Jesus acted and talked a lot like a divine Savior, so finally, in exasperation, they asked him, “Do you really think you are better than our forefather Abraham?”
Jesus replied: “Before Abraham was, I am.”
It might be awkward grammatically, but it’s the only correct way to express God’s timeless, limitless availability and sufficiency. God simply is. He is in the present, he is in the past, and he is in the future. He always exists in present tense because he is outside of time and space. Wherever you look on the time line of humanity, God is present and active. He isn’t just a memory from the past or a promise for the future: he’s a real-time, present-day God.
Jesus was actually quoting from one of the greatest stories in Scripture. It’s found in Exodus, chapter 3. It is the story of how a man named Moses delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt some fifteen hundred years earlier. Moses was an Israelite who had been raised in the Egyptian palace, but he fled into exile in the desert after killing an Egyptian guard who was mistreating an Israelite. He was hated by Egypt and mistrusted by Israel. He wasn’t exactly a prime candidate to carry the deliverance of a nation.
One day he is out tending sheep in the desert, and God speaks to him. Actually, a random bush that is on fire speaks to him, and it turns out to be God. Odd, but God likes to stay unpredictable.
So God tells Moses, “I want you to go back to Egypt and rescue your people.”
Moses starts to freak out, and frankly, I can see why. Not only is he on the Egypt’s Most Wanted List, but there is no way Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is going to let his workforce go. Someone has to build those pyramids and sphinxes and tombs.
Moses is like, “What? Who am I to do that? Besides—I stutter. You’ve got the wrong man for the job. This isn’t going to work, and I’m going to look like a dork.”
Moses is having an identity crisis. He feels insufficient. He feels like he doesn’t have enough. He can’t pull this off.
Notice God’s answer in verse 14. This is his antidote to Moses’ anxiety. He says, “I AM WHO I AM.”
I’m sure Moses is thinking, oh, that clears up everything. Doesn’t it? Like not at all.
“Moses, this is all you need to know. I AM WHO I AM.”
In the face of Moses’ insecurity and identify crisis, God does not say, “Moses, you’re great. You’ve got this. You’re smart, and you’re educated, and you’ve got a great beard. You’ll be fine.”
To solve Moses’ identity crisis, God reminds Moses who God is.
I love that.
The answer to our frequent identity crisis is not first and foremost focusing on who we are, but focusing on who God is.
God is essentially saying, “Moses, I’ve got you covered. I am here. I am available. I have all the supply and surplus you could ever need. I am self-existent. I have no beginning and no end. I just am.”
That changes everything.
When Jesus says to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life,” he is reminding her that he is all she really needs. In her grief and desperation, Jesus is the answer. His “I am” is more than enough for her “I need.”
After Jesus talks to Martha in John 11, Mary comes to him and says essentially the same things Martha did. Jesus is clearly moved with compassion when he sees their pain. Verse 35 is one of the most beautiful verses in the Bible as well as the shortest: “Jesus wept.”
Even though God is infinite, timeless, and perfect, he feels our pain. He knows what he is going to do to fix it, but he still weeps with us, mourns with us, and suffers with us.
Then Jesus heads to the tomb. “Roll the stone away.”
Martha is like, “But Jesus—it’s been four days. Not to be gross, but it’s going to smell pretty bad.”
“Roll it away.”
“Are you serious? Are we doing this?”
“Right now. Roll it away.”
Up until the very last minute, Martha seems to have trouble believing that what she really wants is actually happening. She seems to be afraid. Afraid to hope; afraid to trust; afraid to believe. And here’s the best part: Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead anyway.
We have a tendency to allow fear to short-circuit what God wants to do, but God can do what he wants, when he wants to do it. He doesn’t even need our faith, our spirituality, our good works, or our permission to do it. He is God, and he operates by grace.
Sometimes we are so painfully aware of our own limitations that we project those limitations on God. God is not limited by anything, least of all by our insufficiencies. He is the great I Am. He is all we could ever want or need, and then some. He can do things before we think we’re ready for them. He blesses us even when we don’t deserve to be blessed. Our weaknesses don’t slow him down; they only highlight his strength.
He’s that good. He’s that great. We’ll spend the rest of our lives being continually overwhelmed by his goodness and his grace.
What circumstances are you facing that need the life of God? What dreams and hopes have died and become entombed? Jesus wants to roll the stone away. For Lazarus, he was the source of resurrection and life. For Moses, he was the source of security and deliverance. God is your source, your sufficiency, your salvation.
Maybe you’ve concluded that God will not help you until you get all your ducks in a row and fix all your faults and solve all your failures and weaknesses. Let me remind you that we serve a God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
He can save you all by himself. He can help you even if—especially if—you don’t deserve it, earn it, predict it, prepare for it, or even believe it. He is today God. He is now God. And he is here for you.
Also please consider donating! I am close to meeting my final deadline goal but I am still in need of a couple thousand dollars. Please pray and consider donating anything! OR talk to someone you know who has a lot of money!
Love you guys
