May you believe, in this thin-line world, that this Jesus is for you, not against you.
“I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). So declares Jesus.
“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies!” (Rom. 8:11). So declares Paul.
And in my morning prayers, on one hand with the Psalmist I cry: Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things! (Ps. 98:1) But then again, “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! O Lord, hear my voice!” (Ps. 130:1).
There is always a thin line between such opposites. A thin line:
- Between good and evil.
- Between gain and loss.
- Between joy and sorrow.
- Between hope and despair.
- Between life and death.
In John 11, we meet two sisters who are tired of the thin line between life and death. Their brother Lazarus is suffering, near death, and they call for their friend Jesus. And do you remember what he did? Nothing. For two long days (how long did it seem for Mary and Martha?), he didn’t do anything. Jesus didn’t answer and he didn’t come and so Lazarus died.
After her brother’s death, Jesus finally shows up and Martha goes out to meet him. Did she push him? Did she flail away, fists pounding his chest? Did she lose herself in his arms? If only you had been here, O Lord! (John 11:21) I know that refrain. I know that song. And Mary? She does not even come out to meet him. What’s the point: dead is dead. Dead is stinking dead.
There is such a thin line between life and death. And do you know what Jesus did? He spoke a promise. He spoke a word. He declared life in spite of death; he declared victory in the face of the grave.
In John 11, Jesus continues to the place where death seems so final, to Lazarus’ grave. He lets us in on a conversation with his Father. “Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me’” (John 11:41-42). He breaks through that thin line and his dead friend lives.
May you believe, in this thin-line world, that this Jesus is for you, not against you. That he is alive. That he lived and moved and died and lives again so that you would have a way to live. A way between good and evil, gain and loss, joy, and sorrow, hope and despair. A way between life and death.
“I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). So declares Jesus.
It’s a thin line, And what is more, you know that what is good for you is also good for your neighbor. They live in the same thin-line world, and the same living Lord Jesus who meets your needs is there for them.
The Spirit of the living Christ Jesus abides in the baptized, and in him, you know the real story. You have not received a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption as Sons. You are his and he is yours. Christ's life and death and resurrection say so.
In such a thin-line world, this is how you get to live.
In such a thin-line world, this is how you get to die.
Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
