In the Gospel of John chapter 11, we meet Mary, Martha, and their brother Lazarus, close friends of Jesus Christ. When Lazarus falls ill and dies, Jesus delays His arrival to their house. By the time He reaches the town, Lazarus has been in the tomb for four days.

Martha goes out to meet Jesus and expresses both grief and faith, saying that if He had been there, Lazarus would not have died, but she still trusts that God will grant whatever Jesus asks. Jesus tells her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha assumes He means the future resurrection at the last day. But Jesus redirects her understanding with a profound statement: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.”

Usually when we meet someone, we typically identify ourselves by saying: “Hi, I am …” (and then fill in the blank). For instance: “I am Kevin. I’m a husband, pastor, dad, grandpa, uncle, and great uncle.” Simply saying “I am” isn’t enough. It begs the question: “You are what?” But when Jesus says it, the phrase carries deep theological weight, echoing how God revealed Himself in the Old Testament as the eternal “I am.” Jesus reinforces this identity in other statements like “I am the bread of life,” “I am the light of the world,” and “I am the good shepherd.” Most strikingly, He declares, “Before Abraham was, I am.” These claims point to His divine identity, not merely as a teacher or prophet, but as God in the flesh.

So when Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life,” He is not describing an abstract idea or future event. He is making a personal claim: resurrection and life are found in Him. Martha had been thinking in terms of a distant, end-times event, but Jesus brings that hope into the present. In essence, He tells her that resurrection is not just something that will happen someday, it is standing before her. This shifts the focus from belief in a doctrine to trust in a person. Eternal life is not just a concept or future promise; it is rooted in Jesus Himself. He does not merely give life, He is life. He does not just bring resurrection, He is the resurrection. The hope Martha held intellectually is now embodied in Christ.

Jesus then makes the issue personal by asking Martha, “Do you believe this?” He is not simply asking whether she believes in resurrection in general, but whether she trusts Him as the source of it. Martha responds with a clear confession: she believes He is the Christ, the Son of God. Her faith rests not in an abstract idea, but in Jesus Himself.

It is important to understand that the truth of resurrection does not depend on our belief. Whether someone believes it or not does not change reality. There will be a resurrection for all, some to life, and some to judgment, (John 5:25—29). Belief does not create truth, nor does disbelief destroy it. Belief determines how each person stands in relation to that truth.

So the question remains, just as Jesus asked it then: Do you believe this? Not in a general sense, not as a distant theological idea, but personally. Do you believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life? Do you trust Him as the One who conquers death and gives eternal life? That is the question placed before Martha. It is the same question placed before us. And it is the only one that finally matters.

— Reflections appears regularly on the religion page. The column features a variety of local writers, coordinated through the Monroe Area Clergy Group. Kevin Cernek is senior pastor of Martintown Community Church.