March 12: The Resurrection and the Life
♫ Music:
Thursday, March 12
Scripture: John 11:25-27
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
THE RESURRECTION & THE LIFE
It is difficult to comprehend what Jesus is talking about when he announces resurrection. In my experience, it is difficult, not because I don’t believe it will happen one day, but because I tend to underestimate what the implications of this resurrection will be. In this way, Rob Gardner’s, I Am the Resurrection, along with Tintoretto’s The Resurrection of Christ are appropriately grandiose, both hitting my senses as bigger and more than I expect or imagine. My experience is the same when I read the account in John 11.
Here, Jesus is talking to Martha about the death of her beloved brother Lazarus. Like me, she has a pre-set expectation that resurrection of the dead is an eventual reality, reserved for a time in the distant future. In this sense, resurrection is good news in an important and ultimate sense, but the one-day reality leaves me alone in my present grief, heartache and loss.
Just before we pick up the passage in verse 25, Jesus proclaims his resurrection reality to Martha in verse 23 by declaring, “Your brother will rise again.” Knowing Jesus as she did, I wonder if she had a growing sense that Jesus was up to something new, freshly imagining the Jewish understanding of resurrection. Hadn’t she been shocked and surprised by Jesus before? Hadn’t her partial understanding of God and his purposes been deepened by Jesus’ explanation and demonstration of a fuller, more complete and present reality?
But this was her brother, and he lay dead in a tomb. Would she dare to imagine that Jesus was about to demonstrate resurrection as a present-day reality for her and her family? She answers Jesus appropriately, restating the common understanding of resurrection; “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
And this is the moment where Jesus reveals the reality and scope of his resurrection. In her presence, as available and tangible to her as his embrace, he draws near to explain, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” The proclamation is followed with a question and opportunity to participate in this fresh reality. “Do you believe this?”
And still today, Jesus asks us the same question. I am the resurrection and the life. Do you believe this? More than a mental affirmation, the question serves as a proclamation as well as an invitation to experience resurrection in this fresh way, available now in Christ. And so our hearts spring to life. We answer with Martha; “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
May all that is dead and decaying spring to life today because of what God has accomplished in Christ.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, Son of God, be patient with me as I am so slow to imagine the depth of your love for me and for your creation. There is much in my heart that is dead and needs your fresh resurrection. Help me respond to your invitation to believe in you and the depth of your purposes. You are the very present Resurrection and Life, and you have come into the world to walk with me. Today, please show me how to live in this renewed reality. Amen.
Chad Miller, Department of Spiritual Direction
The Resurrection of Christ (detail)
Tintoretto
1579-1581
Scuola Grande di San Rocco
Oil on canvas
About the Artist & Art
Born Jacopo Comin, Tintoretto (1518 – 1594), was the eldest of 21 children born to a fabric dyer in Venice. When he was young, he showed aptitude for painting, so his father took him to the studio of Titian, for training. Titian sent Tintoretto home after only ten days in the studio, having found some of his sketches. The reasons for this can only be supposed, but it is likely that Titian did not regard Tintoretto as a promising pupil—he was too independent. By 1548, Tintoretto was a prolific painter. Some of his paintings for Venice churches are still extant. The Resurrection of Christ is one of a collection of works Tintoretto painted for the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, depicting scenes from the life of Christ. The Resurrection is still displayed there today.
About the Music
I Am the Resurrection lyrics
Narrator:
Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
Choir:
I am the Resurrection.
Narrator:
And he that was dead came forth.
Choir:
I am the Resurrection and the Life.
He that believeth in me, though he were dead,
Yet shall he live.
And whosever liveth and believeth in me shall never die!
I am the Resurrection and the Life.
He that believeth in me, though he were dead,
Yet shall he live.
I am the Resurrection.
About the Composers
Rob Gardner is a contemporary composer. He has been playing instruments and singing since he was young, having began writing music in college. He writes both sacred music and secular music, including film scores and musicals. Gardner is the president of Spire Music, a nonprofit organization whose mission is “to encourage the composition of new works by creating opportunities for their performance.” I Am the Resurrection is from Lamb of God an oratorio on the final days of Christ life, his death, and resurrection.
The London Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1904, is London’s oldest symphony orchestra. They have been recording albums since 1912, including more than 200 film soundtracks.