Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me

Good morning. Martha goes out and meets Jesus and says, Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. As we will see in a little bit, Mary says the exact same thing. That implies that this was not the first time that they said this. You can imagine them sitting in the house mourning the loss of Lazarus and saying, if Jesus had just been here, our brother would not have died. Martha, however, adds something that Mary does not. Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You. What exactly did she mean by that? It sounds like she believes that Jesus could raise Lazarus from the dead, but the next few verses seem to contradict that. Your brother will rise again. I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. Does that mean that she does not believe that Jesus will bring him back to life right then, or is she just asking Him to be more specific? Note when she believes the resurrection will occur – on the last day. That must’ve been the common Jewish belief. While that does not make it doctrine, Jesus did not correct her. Then we have one of the most powerful verses in the Bible. I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. This is the gospel in a nutshell. It is our hope and our comfort; not only for ourselves, but also for those of our friends and relatives who have already or will die. Jesus did not just present the gospel and leave it at that; He brought it to her to make a decision: do you believe this? She does not say yes specifically. I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world. She does not say that she believes that everyone who believes in Jesus will live even if he dies. Father thank You that Jesus is the resurrection and the life; and that because we live and believe in Him, we will never die.