Eternal Life
John 11:17-27
Jesus Comforts the Sisters of Lazarus
17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. 21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
Nobody wants to die as it is to be thought as 'the end', and we never see our beloved ones longer, and we never use what we have had or piled up in lives, though we have to face and go through tough stuffs, such as financial, physical, parental, mental, and spiritual problems, etc.
Luckily, Martha, the sister of Lazarus, had a different perspective of resurrection(부활). She seemed to have believed that her brother would be risen after death at the last day, which makes sense in a Christian view.
However, Jesus says to her that I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” What a non-sense He is talking about! How could we not die if we believe in Jesus? As you know, everyone dies, however hard we try to live forever. I remember a woman who is raising a disabled woman hoped that she could live one more day than her son, so that she could care for him, which means there is no one who cares for him.
Both of them sound impossible as no one can control the life of their own. However, I guess that Jesus is not telling us about the physical death, but the spiritual life. Even though we say that we are alive, if we do not know about the relations with God and us as sinners, we are to be said to be spiritually dead. Therefore, when we believe in Jesus, as the Son of God and the Savior, then we get the spiritual life, which never perishes or dies as He said. What an amazing thing it is!
If we keep focusd on the only one thought about one concept, like death, we will never understand, but if we move our view point and get away from our prejudice, then we will understand what He is telling us about. Or needless to say, we, Christians, now live the spiritually eternal life in the Holy Spirit, which is both the mystery and the secret itself.
