Sermon preview, week of September 30, 2025

The Resurrection & The Life

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?” From John 11:17-43

This Sunday’s order

Sunday
Series
I AM: Jesus in the Gospel of John
Preaching
Jonathan Balmer

This is a sermon preview for a sermon in the "I AM: Jesus in the Gospel of John" series. The live stream recordings can be viewed online.

The readingJohn 11:17-43

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?”

-from John 11:17-43

Read John 11:17-43

17When Jesus arrived, He found that Lazarus had already spent four days in the tomb. 18Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, a little less than two miles away, 19and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them in the loss of their brother. 20So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet Him, but Mary stayed at home. 21Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But even now I know that God will give You whatever You ask of Him.” 23“Your brother will rise again,” Jesus told her. 24Martha replied, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. 26And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27“Yes, Lord,” she answered, “I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” 28After Martha had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside to tell her, “The Teacher is here and is asking for you.” 29And when Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to Him. 30Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met Him. 31When the Jews who were in the house consoling Mary saw how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there. 32When Mary came to Jesus and saw Him, she fell at His feet and said, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34“Where have you put him?” He asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they answered. 35Jesus wept. 36Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!” 37But some of them asked, “Could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind also have kept Lazarus from dying?” 38Jesus, once again deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39“Take away the stone,” Jesus said.
“Lord, by now he stinks,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man. “It has already been four days.” 40Jesus replied, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” 41So they took away the stone. Then Jesus lifted His eyes upward and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42I knew that You always hear Me, but I say this for the benefit of the people standing here, so they may believe that You sent Me.” 43After Jesus had said this, He called out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”

Berean Standard Bible, public domain

"The resurrection was indeed a miraculous display of God’s power, but we should not see it as a suspension of the natural order of the world. Rather it was the beginning of the restoration of the natural order of the world, the world as God intended it to be. . . . The resurrection means not merely that Christians have a hope for the future but that they have a hope that comes from the future. The Bible’s startling message is that when Jesus rose, he brought the future kingdom of God into the present." - Tim Keller, Hope In Times of Fear

The startling message of Jesus is here: not just that the resurrection power of the last day, when God will set all things right, has invaded our world, but that it has done so through a person. Jesus IS the resurrection and the life. What God has given us is not life as a principle, or life as a plan, but life as a person.

Jesus is the resurrection and the life. What surprising and beautiful implications are here, and what lifetimes could be spent contemplating what it means to believe this, and to live as it is (because it is!) true!

First Baptist Church Muncie · 309 East Adams Street, Muncie, IN 47305 · https://www.fbcmuncie.org/post/the-resurrection-the-life

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