Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. (John 11:24)
Martha, one of my favorite women in the Bible looked upon the resurrection and the life as things that were to be in some dim and misty future. But as the scripture record reveals, Jesus said: “No,”
“I am [NOW] the resurrection and the life. Not only do I get these things by prayer from God, but I am these things.” And then he goes on to explain it. He says, “I am the resurrection. Anyone that believes in me, though they were dead, yet shall they live. I am the life. Whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die; they will live.” (John 11:25)
I recall once some years ago during my nursing days, standing by the bedside of an elderly man who was dying. It was the night shift, and as I watched his life current slowly ebb from his emaciated body, I saw an old well used Bible on his bedside table. I asked “George, is it OK if I look in your Bible for a few minutes.” He couldnt speak but he nodded a yes.
I opened up George’s Bible and the very first thing I saw was the following text scrawled on the inside front cover in George’s very shaky looking hand writing:
“I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself.” (Phil 3:10, Message)
What an amazing text for me to discover just at that exact time & place with old George!
I have never forgotten this experience, that text, over the last 25 years. It has stood silently, steadfastly with me through every dark trial.
Jesus once said “I will rise again,” and His experience is to be our experience. The comfort, the assurance, and the power of this one promise, can help anyone at the very point of whatever felt needs are present in their lives. When I lost a loved one a few years ago, this was the very experience that we both had leaned heavily on:
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will also bring with Him all those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. For we say this to you by the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall not go before those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall ever be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thes 4: 14-18, MKJV)
What did Paul mean when he wrote, “We tell you this directly from the Lord”? (vs 15)
Either this was something that the Lord had revealed directly to Paul, or it was a teaching of Jesus that had been passed along orally by the apostles and other Christians.
It was at the bedside of a dying man where this truth was not only passed on to me; but at the point of George’s last breath that night, it became a lived experience, rather than a stale doctrine, or some contested theology.
I have sometimes wondered over the years how my friend could have faced his death with such assurance. He had horrible pain in the end, and his body was marred with the ravages of his disease. And he was alone. No family would come to see him in his last moments. There was no visible sign that he was “happy in the Lord” and trusting in Jesus as he left this life behind. Or was there? Perhaps his yes that he nodded to me when I asked to look in his Bible was the thing that showed He knew Jesus? And that he wanted me to know Him better too?
But when George said “Yes” to my request to look inside his Bible, that my friends was his moment of greatest power. That “yes” is the very definition of “I will rise again.” And it was my personal moment to rise again unto the “lively hope” of the resurrection power, for both this life, and the life to come.
As believers in Jesus today, we too have the opportunity for our moment of greatest power. There is opportunity, for anyone, no matter how rotten they are, to “rise again.” This is why the Bible calls the resurrection our “lively” or “living hope.” Because Jesus is risen! (Mat 1:21), Because Jesus is “the living God” (Psalms 42:2) of our life today:
Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is so good, and by raising Jesus from death, he has given us new life and a hope that lives on. (1 Pet 1:3, CEV)
Do you need encouragement?
Peter’s words offer such powerful joy and hope in times of trouble, and he bases his confidence on what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. We live with the wonderful expectation of eternal life (1 Pet 1:3). Our hope is not only for the future; because eternal life begins when we first trust Christ. Like my Grandmother used to say: Heaven begins on Earth.” Especially when we recognize along with the psalmist:
Why am I discouraged? Why am I restless? I trust you! And I will praise you again because you help me, (Psalms 42:5)
The Psalmist was rising again when he poured out those words! And when we rise again in our experience, we too will express new or renewed confidence in Jesus! When we pour out our hearts to Jesus. After all, “prayer is the opening of the heart to God, as to a friend.”
My greatest moments of power, my personal experiences of rising again out of whatever horrible pit I have been, in are always when I hear that same “yes,” from someone who cares enough to be there, and recognize that that yes, is just how Jesus will help me too.
“By this shall all people know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another…” (John 13:35)
My personal best antidote for spiritual depression is to meditate on the record of God’s goodness to His people. And to myself. (Rev 12:10-11) This will help take your mind off the present situation as you focus your thoughts on God’s ability, on God’s power, to help you rather than trying to count on your own inability to help yourself. This process is called “rise again.” (2 Cor 5:17) Why not take advantage of the Psalmist’s effectual antidepressant? The Bible accounts of God’s goodness, always give us something at least one step higher than where we are currently.
When I have stood watching death invade, my darkest thoughts oppressed me deeply, buried me in darkness. George’s “YES” turned my heart to God and in touching Jesus in such a very affectionate way like that, I started to rise again. I stopped feeling alone in my situation. This kind of Holy Love to Jesus as our main foundation in life, is the very power of Godliness. The very life and soul of all of us.
I didn’t realize for years how wrong I was about God, until I heard His “yes” through my dying friend, and my tortured heart began to rise again. Standing at George’s bedside, was my moment of greatest power. Through a few tears then, Jesus had just taught me very affectionately to know the worth and power of His everlasting mercies. Simply by providing me with the the very acute wanting of them! Of a truth, His mercies are new every morning! (Lam 3;23)
What power on earth can take that away from any one of us? Scripture asserts how that “nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.”
And you dont have to be a Christian to “rise again!” You just have to be in need, and acutely feel the need for God’s mercy:
keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. (Jude 1:21)
Do you want to rise out of your darkest experiences? To know and trust Jesus not inspite of them, but because of them?
God’s yes to each of us today would be in His longing for, and providing for us to live close to Him, and to His people, and in giving up our trust of false teachers and any other dark souls who would try to pull us away from God.
And now to him who can keep you on your feet, standing tall in his bright presence, fresh and celebrating—to our one God, our only Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Master, be glory, majesty, strength, and rule before all time, and now, and to the end of all time. YES! (Jude 1:24-25, Message)
My friends, God wants to say “yes” to you now. God has a special plan for you to rise again! Just like He had for Jesus!
NOW can be your moment of greatest power.
“To them that received Him gave He power to become the sons and daughters of God! (John 1:12)