When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, He wanted us to believe that He was sent by God, that He is the Son of God, and He is the Messiah. He did it to show us that everything that He said was true, and everything that He did was from God – and that means that all of God’s promises are fulfilled through Jesus.
Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life
“And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live.“ – John 5:25
Jesus wept for the pain that Lazarus went through and He wept for the reality that people are living in because we don’t see that we do not have to despair. At a funeral we are not without hope because we live with Jesus, we die with Jesus, and we rise with Jesus. He is the Resurrection and the Life.
Jesus has authority and power over death. Jesus is the embodiment of the resurrection Himself. He was raised to life and He can raise us to life, too. Jesus is the resurrection for us and He is the first of what is to come. Jesus gives us life to live that is full of hope and free from despair where we can trust in Him fully.
Our Purpose is to Live Fully
“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.“ – John 10:10
We tend to worry about what the future might hold for us, forgetting that God has everything in control. That is the doing of the enemy stealing away God’s purpose for us. We don’t have to worry about what’s coming next. We don’t have to worry about where things are coming from because really, it all comes from God.
God created us to restore life as we were created to live, to take care of and love God’s creation and that includes each other. He created us to work hard, to serve our coworkers in love and to point other people to the hope that God wants them to have.
Jesus Wanted the People to Believe that God sent Him.
“The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.“ – John 1:4
We have Jesus, who lived and died for us, showing us that God’s Word is true so we can live the life that He has given us to live.
A funeral is where we can see very clearly the shortcomings of the physical reality that we experience right now. It is also the gateway or the door that we step through to our new bodies and the new creation that will come.
Start every day living with that reality, fully in focus, free from the noise around us. Let us live that way with the help of the Spirit.
