September 18

John 11:25

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

All around us people are passing into eternity. It is so omnipresent and commonplace that we become calloused and accustomed to it. But it revives the age-old question of Job, “If a man die, shall he live again?” Job 14:14. The question has been answered by Jesus and will soon be verified by us. Jesus had just told Martha that her dead brother Lazarus would rise again. She took His words as standard consolation meant to pacify her, saying, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” But Jesus clarified, saying to her, “I am the resurrection and the life,” and He proved it by raising Lazarus and by his own resurrection. Perhaps at the graveside of a loved one or at the news of a friend passing away we ask the same question as Job, “If a man die, shall he live again?” Life’s day is short, and the evening shadows lengthen, but the relentless approach of the grim reaper has no horror to those who know him who is “the resurrection and the life”. “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”, 1 Cor.15:55.

Commentary by Francis L. Harris

"...what must I do to be saved?" Acts 16:30