Life

John 11:25-26 – Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

John 6:35 – Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

John 1:4,7 – In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind…He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.

John 14:6 – Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

1 Corinthians 15:57 – But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Application:

• ·         Jesus not only is life, but He also conveys life to believers so that death will never triumph over them.
• ·         Life is Christ’s gift, and He, in fact, is “the life”.
• ·         Jesus is the way to God.
• ·         Jesus is not one way among many but the only way.
• ·         People were not to believe “in” John the Baptist but “through” him.
• ·         “Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” is victory over the condemnation for sin that the law brought and over death and the grave, through the death and resurrection of Christ.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Resurrection

John 11:23-24 – Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Daniel 12:2 – Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.

John 5:28-29 – “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.

John 6:39-40 – And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

Application:

• ·         “Some to everlasting life, other to shame” was the first clear reference to a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.
• ·         As always in Scripture, judgment is based on what people have done in their lives. Salvation, of course, is a gift from God in response to faith, but true faith in Christ results in changed lives, lived in obedience to Christ as Lord.
• ·         True believers will persevere because of Christ’s firm hold on them.
• ·         Death cannot destroy the life that Christ gives.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Whatever You Ask

John 11:12-22 – His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

Genesis 18:14 – Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Jeremiah 32:27 – “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?

Application:

• ·         Nothing is too difficult for God to do.
• ·         Nothing within God’s will, including creation and redemption, is impossible for Him.
• ·         God is worthy of obedience because He is always faithful in fulfilling His promises.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Glory

John 11:2-11 – (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.” After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”

John 12:41 – Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.

John 8:59 – At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

Application:

• ·         The cross, resurrection and exaltation portray both suffering and healing, rejection and triumph, humiliation and glory.
• ·         When Jesus declares “I am”, there are only two possible responses: to reach for a rock or to fall at His feet.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Lazarus

John 10:42-11:1 – And in that place many believed in Jesus. Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

Luke 16:22-23,30 – “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side…“‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

Application:

• ·         “Abraham’s side” refers to the place of blessedness to which the righteous dead go.
• ·         Hades is depicted as the place to which the wicked dead go and suffer torment.
• ·         If people’s minds are closed and Scripture is rejected, no evidence—not even a resurrection—will change them.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

All That John Said

John 10:39-41 – Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp. Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. There he stayed, and many people came to him. They said, “Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.”

John 8:59 – At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

John 2:11 – What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

John 1:7 – He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.

Application:

• ·         When Jesus declares “I am”, there are only two possible responses: to reach for a rock or to fall at His feet.
• ·         Signs revealed Jesus’ glory and likely also pointed to the fullness of the salvation He came to effect.
• ·         People were not to believe “in” John the Baptist but “through” him.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Father

John 10:25-26,37-38 – Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep…Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”

John 14:11 – Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.

John 17:20-21 – “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

Application:

• ·         “The works of my Father” are the kind of works of compassion that the Father Himself does.
• ·         Jesus reference to his works may have been referring to the evidence of His whole manner of life—all He had done in the Father’s name.
• ·         Miracles were only a part of Jesus’ works.
• ·         Faith includes believing that Jesus is one with the Father.
• ·         The unity of believers should have an effect on outsiders, to convince them of the mission of Christ.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV