[2026. 5. 17.] I Am the Resurrection and the Life | John 11:17–44

[2026. 5. 17.] I Am the Resurrection and the Life | John 11:17–44

Sermon by Rev. Jinkook (Danny) Sohn (Hope of Heaven Baptist Chuch) 

 

2026. 5. 17. 주일예배 설교- 요한복음 강해 32
본문: 요한복음 11:17–44
제목: 나는 부활이요 생명이니

설교자: 손진국 목사 (하늘소망교회)

 

Today’s passage continues from last Sunday, describing how Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. It is said to be the last of the seven signs recorded in the Gospel of John. And in today’s passage, we find the fifth of Jesus’ seven “Ego Eimi” declarations. It appears in verse 25: [Verse 25] Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.” Jesus declares that He is the resurrection and the life. This means Jesus is not merely one who teaches about resurrection—He is resurrection itself and life itself. This means that those who believe in Jesus, those who receive Him, possess resurrection and eternal life, zoe.

As we shared last week, Jesus had a specific reason for not going immediately when Lazarus became sick and for waiting until he died: He said it was so that the disciples would believe. That is how important faith is. Then what did He want them to believe? Resurrection faith. Through the Word, I hope we can understand what resurrection faith truly is.

 

1. Live the present with resurrection faith.

When Jesus arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. To Martha, who came out to meet Him, the Lord said: [Verse 23] “Your brother will rise again.” Martha replied: [Verse 24] “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” To this answer, the Lord spoke an astonishing truth: [Verse 25–26] “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?”

What is different between Martha’s words and the Lord’s words? Martha knew that resurrection would happen on the last day. We also know and believe this, because Jesus said: [John 6:40] “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.” It is clear that “raise them up” refers to resurrection.

But the difference between Martha’s words and the Lord’s words lies in the tense. Martha speaks of the future, but the Lord speaks of present faith. Jesus is saying that He Himself is the resurrection and the life, and that those who believe in Him now already possess life that never dies.

Therefore, resurrection is not merely a future event—it is something already given to us now. Eternal life is not something we receive after death—it is already given to us when we believe in the Lord and is something we possess now. [1 John 5:13] I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Resurrection and eternal life have already been conceived within us, are growing within us, and will be fully revealed in due time. Martha’s response is like a pregnant woman saying, “I have no life in me. I have no baby. Maybe someday I will receive one,” simply because she cannot yet see the child.

Beloved saints, believe that resurrection and eternal life have already been given to us, and live today with resurrection faith.

[Application] Do I believe that God is working in my life now? Or do I believe He will work only someday in the future?

 

2. With resurrection faith, break the limits of your own belief.

What was Mary’s response when she came to Jesus after Martha? She said to the Lord: [Verse 32] “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” These words contain disappointment and sorrow toward Jesus. “If only You had come before he died, You could have healed him… Now it is too late. How could this happen?” She wept in grief and despair over her brother’s death. And the Jews who had come with her also wept with her.

How did Jesus feel as He saw Mary and the Jews weeping? [Verse 33] When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. The Greek word for “deeply moved” (embrimaomai) means “to be indignant,” “to groan with frustration,” or “to sigh with grief.”

This word appears again later. When the Jews said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” [Verse 38] says Jesus was once more deeply moved within.

Why was Jesus indignant and troubled toward Mary and the Jews? Because their faith was trapped within the limits of their own understanding. In other words, they believed Jesus could heal before death, but once Lazarus died, nothing could be done.

This kind of faith places the standard not on Jesus but on themselves. They judged Jesus’ power within the boundaries of their own knowledge and experience—deciding what even Jesus could or could not do.

This appears again in verse 39 and following. When Jesus said, “Take away the stone,” Martha—who had confessed in verse 27, “You are the Messiah, the Son of God”—said: [Verse 39] “But, Lord, by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” In other words: “Why remove the stone? He is already dead. Nothing can be done.”

Then Jesus said: [Verse 40] “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” What was Jesus feeling when He said this? Do we not see His sorrowful heart saying, “Even after all I have told you, do you still not understand? Do you still not believe?”

What truly grieved the Lord was not Lazarus’ death, but their lack of true resurrection faith. He grieved because they did not realize that Jesus—standing before them—was the resurrection and the life, and because they were trapped in the limits of their own understanding.

Resurrection faith breaks the limits and frameworks created by our own knowledge and experience. May you place the standard of faith not on yourself but on the Lord, trusting fully in Him who is the resurrection and the life.

[Application] What is the problem in my life that I think, “Even God cannot change this”?

 

3. Through resurrection faith, the original design of creation is restored.

Resurrection does not merely extend earthly life—it signifies that restoration has begun. God created the heavens, the earth, and humanity and declared them “very good.” Resurrection restores us to that original, good, beautiful, and perfect state.

What trees were in Eden, the place God created for humans to live? [Genesis 2:9] The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

“Pleasing to the eye” nourished the soul—our thoughts and emotions. “Good for food” nourished the body. The “tree of life” gave eternal life. The “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” was a covenant tree—a safeguard against the enemy.

But when humans ate from the forbidden tree, they broke God’s covenant, and the “very good” nature within them was shattered.

Resurrection is restoring the state that has been broken and distorted by sin back to the original state that is good in God’s sight.

(1) Our imperfect bodies will be restored to perfect and beautiful bodies. Because of sin, our bodies have been seized by the devil, who holds the power of the air (of the earth), and are bound by sin and death and limited by time and space. But they will be transformed into bodies that are fit for the eternal kingdom of God, and we will receive perfect and beautiful bodies fit for the spiritual world, where there is no more sin, no death, and no limits of time or space.

(2) Resurrection restores our character, which has been distorted by sin, into the good character of the Lord Jesus. The sin that entered humanity corrupted the good character that said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh,” and that promised to love and cherish the other as oneself, and turned it into a fallen character that blames others, saying that it was because of the woman and because of God that he sinned, and that shifts responsibility, condemns, envies, and hates. The same was true of his children. The older brother Cain envied his younger brother Abel and struck him with a stone and killed him. Resurrection is the transformation of this fallen and evil human character back into the clean and good character of the Lord.

(3) Through resurrection, intimacy with God is restored. Because of sin, the relationship between God and me was blocked, but resurrection removes everything that stood in the way of the relationship between God and me and makes God and me one. Sin and death disappear, evil spirits disappear, and the limitations of time and space disappear, so that divine fellowship with God takes place immediately. The word that we thought was so difficult, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” is fulfilled as it is in our lives.

What is important is that this beautiful, perfect, and good restoration has already begun among us. The seed of resurrection has been planted in us who believe in Jesus and is growing. Believe that through faith in the Lord, the old self that was distorted and twisted has died and that you have been made alive again as a new creation. [2 Corinthians 5:17] Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

I bless you to believe in Jesus, who even today proclaims, “I am the resurrection and the life,” and to live today with resurrection faith, and to be saints who, in the presence and working of the Lord who is with you, achieve restoration and victory.

[Application] What aspects of myself that were broken and distorted by sin have been restored through the Lord? What aspects of myself have not yet been restored?

 

 

하늘소망교회(담임 손진국 목사)는 뉴질랜드 오클랜드 북부 실버데일에 세워진 한인교회로 '하나님의 마음으로 사람을 살리는 교회'입니다.

Hope of Heaven Baptist Church (Senior Pastor: Rev. Jinkook Sohn) is a Korean church established in Silverdale, Auckland, New Zealand. It is a church that saves people with the heart of God.