JESUS DECLARES HIMSELF TO BE THE SOURCE AND …
JESUS DECLARES HIMSELF TO BE THE SOURCE AND
FOUNTAIN OF LIFE.
John 11: 25, 26
A Post-Easter sermon by:
Rev. H.A. Bergsma
PUBLISHED BY THE
PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE
OF THE
FREE REFORMED CHURCHES OF NORTH AMERICA.
(May 2006)
LITURGY:
Votum
Psalter 94
Law of God
Psalter 103
Scripture Reading: John 11: 1 – 45
Text: John 11: 25, 26
Congregational Prayer
Offerings
Psalter 29
Sermon
Psalter 420: 5
Thanksgiving Prayer
Psalter 202
Doxology: Psalter 183: 4
Congregation of the Lord,
In the afterglow of Easter, we may hear Jesus say “I am the resurrection, and the life.”
With these words, Jesus declares that He is the one who has triumphed over death, and takes pleasure in sharing such a triumph with others, as we hope to see this hour.
Moreover, we hope to hear that Jesus is the source and the fountain of life, and that, for our joy and benefit.
“I am the resurrection, and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.”
This is how Jesus reveals Himself in His Word, and this is how I may declare Him by the Gospel this hour.
I wish to do this by the following theme and division …
JESUS DECLARES HIMSELF TO BE THE SOURCE AND FOUNTAIN OF LIFE
1. He Has the Life
2. He Gives the Life
Congregation,
We have read our text with its surrounding history.
The story is well known to you.
There was obviously an intimate bond of friendship between Jesus and those three people in the village of Bethany … Lazarus, Mary, and Martha.
It is understandable then that Jesus was notified when Lazarus suddenly became seriously ill.
But it is at the same time somewhat surprising that Jesus did not rush off to the village of Bethany right away.
The disciples were of the opinion that Jesus did not want to go because of certain dangers.
After all, the Jews have wanted to stone Him.
But Jesus has a different reason for not rushing off to the village of Bethany, as He explains in verse 4 … “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.”
Some time later it appears that Jesus waited for Lazarus to die on purpose even, as He says to His disciples “I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye might believe …”
Perhaps you think it a bit strange that Jesus waited.
But you see, Jesus wanted an opportunity to show His power, and declare that He is the source and fountain of life, and by it compel people to believe in Him.
And so the story goes, as Jesus arrives in the village of Bethany, Lazarus has died, and has already been in the grave for four days.
A grieving Martha meets Jesus and says … “Lord, if thou had been here my brother had not died. But I know that even now whatsoever thou wilt ask God, God will give it thee.”
Martha reasons that if Jesus had been with them, He would have healed Lazarus, and Lazarus would not have died.
But Martha is not given up all hope yet.
She believes in the power that Jesus has, and she expects from Him even now, that He can do what is humanly impossible!
But it all depends if Jesus wants to.
In Martha’s words is couched therefore the request for a miracle.
And Jesus hears this well enough.
He knows what Martha means, and He tells her … “Your brother shall rise again.”
Martha however, understands this to mean the resurrection of all the dead at the last day.
That is in the future, and that is great, and Martha does not deny this … but this does not remove for her the sad reality of the present.
But when Jesus said … “Your brother shall rise again” He had more than the final resurrection in mind; He had something in mind … whereby He could prove that He, Jesus, is the resurrection and the life.
Jesus wants to prove to Martha, and to others, that He has resurrection power and life at His disposal even at this moment.
Notice how He does this; I will briefly recount the story.
He first of all shows Himself to be deeply moved by the grief of Martha and of Mary, and standing at the grave where Lazarus is buried, we read that “Jesus wept.” (verse 35)
Understand this congregation … Jesus is moved with the grief for His people, and as you and I would, He can stand at a gravesite and weep with them.
Dear people! Our Savior is a compassionate, a sympathetic Savior!
But as He stands at the grave of Lazarus, and is done with His weeping, He suddenly cries out with a loud voice “Lazarus, come forth!” (verse 43)
What is this all about?
Well … just look … it is an awesome sight, really.
We are told that “The dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face bound with a napkin.” (verse 44)
Imagine the sight … it is kind of eerie when you think of it … there is movement in the grave … a bound and covered body that has been lying there dead suddenly shows signs of life, sits up, struggles to get on its feet, and makes its way to the opening of the grave … and there it stands in full view of all the astonished onlookers!
Jesus speaks again, and now in a much more calmer and relaxed tone, “Loose him and let him go.” (verse 44)
Jesus has returned Lazarus back to life again; the dead has been raised!
What went on in the hearts of the bystanders?
Who could have thought this?
No doubt they have stared wide eyed and open mouthed at Lazarus, who, just like that, rose up out of the grave.
Jesus did this.
He is the resurrection and the life.
He has the life and does with it what He wants, and He overcomes death with the power of His word.
Perhaps you are thinking at this moment … “If Jesus is the source and fountain of life, why did He Himself still have to die? Could He not just give life to all who believe in Him, without Himself having to die?”
Well, you need to remember that Jesus died as Savior of sinners, and that His dying was a sacrificial dying, when He gave His life as a payment and punishment for sin.
Elsewhere the Bible calls it a “ransom.” (Matthew 20:28)
No life could be given to any sinner such as you or me, if a sacrificial death was not first made
And this is what Jesus has done.
This was the reason and purpose of His death.
But, when Jesus Himself rose from the dead, His resurrection proved that He is the fountain of life, and by making the sacrifice, He earned the right to share this life with His people.
Therefore, Jesus can now freely give life to people like you and me if we believe in Him.
Why? Because Jesus has the life.
And you know something? … the life that Jesus has, and is able to give to believers is a very special kind of life … it consists of spiritual, bodily, and eternal life.
The resurrection of Jesus now guarantees all believers that they too, have this special kind of life.
Let me explain this a bit further.
First of all, believers enjoy what is known as a spiritual resurrection, when they are born again and come to faith in Christ.
The Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 2, that God has made us alive with Christ.
And then believers may know that they have spiritual life, which Jesus speaks of in our text, “He that believeth in me though he were dead, yet shall he live.”
And lastly, believers may know that there is a resurrection to eternal life for them, as Jesus says, “He who believes in the Son shall have eternal life.”
Dear people! You may put all three into one … if you are spiritually made alive, you have the promise of God Himself of a bodily resurrection and a life eternal.
This is the kind of life you need … spiritual life … because then alone is your life guaranteed for eternity, and you have a safeguard beyond your physical, bodily death.
“Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die”
The word “never” is so emphatic in the original that it could be translated as “never, never, ever die!”
This is the kind of guarantee and safeguard that you need, because when you come to the end of your life on earth, your dying will be like a “falling asleep” for you as the Bible calls it, and a passage into eternal life, as our Heidelberg Catechism calls it.
You see, as a believer, you do not need to be afraid of dying anymore.
Your dying will have changed in character.
Death cannot have that all overruling power with you anymore.
Where Christ rules, there is life.
This is why He calls Himself the resurrection and the life.
If you are in Christ by faith, you are raised up to a new life … to eternal life … to a life that never ends, and in due time you will also receive a perfect body and soul and place to enjoy it in.
Faith in Jesus Christ will put you in possession of all this, and more!
Now, I ask especially you who do not yet profess faith in Christ … what could be more important in the world than knowing this source and fountain of life?
Presently, death is the greatest enemy of your life.
Death stalks around us in wars, in acts of terrorism, in famine, in diseases, and in accidents.
Even if you are graciously spared from all that, you know from the Bible that it is appointed for man once to die.
Which means my friend, that you must die one day.
This would only be physical death yet.
But there is a worse reality that you must face yet, and that is spiritual death.
What is spiritual death?
Let me try to explain.
It is a very, very horrible type of death … far worse than any physical death, which, as you know, has been with us since man’s fall in the Garden of Eden.
Before man’s fall, he did not know death, much less spiritual death.
At one time, man lived to the full in the presence of God.
But man lost that wonderful privilege.
Through the fall man has died, and he is like a dead man in the presence of God.
God has no pleasure, no joy, no praise, no profit from man anymore; man has turned against God, and God has turned away from man.
And that, dear people, is spiritual death.
In other words, fallen man is actively and rebelliously dead before God … spiritually dead.
The Apostle Paul speaks of this as being “dead in trespasses and sin.” (Ephesians 2:1)
How does such spiritual death reveal itself in people?
Well, there are certain symptoms by which a person can be identified as spiritually dead.
For instance … when you love sin and have no concern for any punishment; when you love darkness and the works of darkness rather than those of the light; when you are more in love with the world and the pleasures it has to offer, than what God has to offer; when you love only yourself, and look out only for yourself and for your own profit, without any considerations for others; when you love lusting and desiring things just to feed selfish satisfaction.
Those are some of the symptoms of spiritual death.
Now, Jesus once said to some people … “I know your works that you have a name that you live and art dead.” (Revelation 3:1)
He said this to church-going people … to the congregation of Sardis!
This means that church-going people could have the appearance of being alive, and yet be spiritually dead.
My friend, if this registers with you, you have some serious repenting to do, and to make some urgent calls to God for mercy.
Listen to the Gospel, and to Jesus himself as He is projected before you by the Gospel.
He says also to you this hour “I am the resurrection and the life!”
This is a gracious thing, my friend.
In the midst of this world of death He calls you to consider who He is … Resurrection and Life itself!
And what is so gracious about all this, is the fact that Jesus passes by thousands of people, and that He comes to speak to you and to me.
This is a privilege that we have not earned.
But thanks be to God’s good pleasure that we can hear this by way of Gospel preaching.
There is life for dead people and grace for guilty sinners … and it is to be found in Him who is the source and fountain of life.
Therefore, let me in the second place explain to you that Jesus, as the source and fountain of life, also Gives The Life.
How does Jesus give life to someone?
He does this in the way of faith.
Faith is the secret; faith is the way to salvation.
You can see this in our text where Jesus says, “He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.”
The stress here is on believing.
You see, by faith you receive life, and by faith Jesus sustain this life.
When Jesus sees Martha sinking away in grief, the first thing He does is to stir the faith in her by asking her “Believest thou this?”
In other words … “Martha, do you believe that those who believe in me have life? Do you believe this, even now at the gravesite of your brother Lazarus?”
And Martha answers, “Yes, Lord, I have learned to believe it … Thou art the Christ, the Son of God which should come into the world.”
At this point, Martha’s expectations are raised again; the Life Himself stands before her and gives her the assurance that she needs. And as Martha sees Jesus as the Promised Messiah, she confesses her faith in Him.
Dear people! This is what Jesus also asks of us.
You must believe in Jesus as the source and fountain of life
In the original language the term used in our text translated as “believing” has a special meaning.
It means as much as a fast-paced activity, and a constant wrestling against unbelief.
In other words, believing here means a trusting in Jesus against all odds, even when the whole world says “It can’t be!”
This is the sort of believing Jesus wants of us!
With such a faith, you may surrender yourself to Jesus Christ … also you who are still much troubled about your sin.
After all, for what other reason would you go to Jesus than that you are troubled about your sin?
Remember! Jesus Christ saves from sin, and this is what you may believe.
With such believing in Jesus Christ as the source and fountain of life, you can be sure that He will also give it to you.
“I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”
This is what Jesus says four days after the funeral of Lazarus.
Martha can hear from Jesus …
“Lazarus lives, even though he died, because whoever has the life which I give him, shall never die.”
What Jesus says here to Martha, can also be said to any and all who have loved ones who fell asleep in the Savior.
Your loved one is buried; his or her body rests in the grave.
Still, it can be said with great certainty … your loved one lives on, because he or she can no more die.
This might seem like a small comfort for you who are still in grief for the loss of a loved one, because naturally, earthly life is presently all you know.
But Jesus wants to say that there is this great comfort, namely … the believer has been given eternal life … he or she cannot die anymore; Jesus the Savior has defeated death and disarmed it of its horrifying powers.
The soul of your loved one lives on in the fellowship of God until Jesus Christ returns, will raise their bodies, and join soul and body to everlasting bliss and eternal life.
This is one of the things we may learn from our text, congregation.
The fact that Jesus Christ is the source and fountain of life should be a comfort for you who are missing loved ones who have gone to be with the Lord.
They are alive and in fellowship with the Lord.
Another thing we can learn from our text is that the spiritual deadness of those who are near and dear to us does not need to be a hopeless situation, because Jesus Christ is the source and fountain of life.
We must therefore be diligent to teach them these things.
Dear parents! You know that your children have been conceived and born in sin; Psalm 51 testifies of it.
In other words, the pall of spiritual death is on them from the moment you have set eyes on them.
Therefore, as soon as you have opportunity, you must point this out to them, and then also point them to the source and fountain of life, Jesus Christ.
You have promised at their baptism that you would instruct your children in the doctrine of the church.
This means in the first place that you direct them to Jesus Christ, who is the source and fountain of life … who is the life and who gives the life.
This means that you yourself must first of all live and benefit from this source and fountain of life.
People today … especially children, want to see … their instruction is most often geared to the seeing.
Therefore, they must see it on your life that you have the real life.
Examples of piety often leave deeper impression with children than words of piety, therefore, follow up your good words with good examples.
Children, young people! Wouldn’t you want this life, that real life?
Do you pray, and do you pray for this life?
You may obtain it through Jesus the Savior.
You cannot give it to yourself; your parents cannot give this life to you as much as they would want to.
But the way of prayer is open.
The Fountain of Life is listening.
He will never turn away anyone pleading for mercy and asking for life.
This is why believers can sing with their heart and with their mouth the following song … as we also hope to do shortly…
Let God be praised with reverence deep;
He daily comes our lives to steep
In bounties freely given.
God cares for us, our God is He;
Who would not fear His majesty
In earth as well as Heaven?
Our God upholds us in the strife;
And here are the lines I wish to stress …
To us he grants eternal life,
And saves from desolation.
He hears the needy when they cry,
He saves their souls when death draws nigh,
This God is our salvation. (Psalter 420:5)
In closing, I ask you, having heard that Jesus is the life and that He gives the life, what are you … dead or alive?
Amen
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