Comforter • John 11:17-27 • Ash Wednesday, February 18, 2026

The Certainty of Resurrection: Finding Hope Beyond Death

"I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live." - John 11:25

These words echo through centuries, carrying a promise that defies our deepest fears and transforms our understanding of death itself.

When Death Seems Final

How do you know someone is truly dead? We might look for a pulse, check for breathing, or observe the stillness of a heart that has stopped beating. These physical markers have become our modern measurements of death's finality.

But in first-century Palestine, people held a different belief. They thought the spirit lingered near the body for two days, finally departing on the third day. This wasn't medical knowledge but cultural superstition—yet it shaped how people understood death and mourning.

This context makes the story of Lazarus even more profound. When Jesus arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. Not one day. Not two. Four full days—beyond any shadow of doubt, beyond any possibility of unconsciousness or coma. Lazarus was unmistakably, irreversibly dead.

Or so it seemed.

The Waiting That Builds Faith

Jesus received word of Lazarus's illness before His friend died. He told his disciples, "This illness will not end in death." Yet He deliberately waited. He delayed his journey until Lazarus had been dead and buried for four days.

Was this cruelty? Indifference?

No. It was preparation for a demonstration of power that would leave no room for doubt.
Jesus waited so that everyone—the mourners, the skeptics, the disciples, and we who read this story millennia later—would know with absolute certainty that what was about to happen was nothing short of miraculous. This wasn't resuscitation. This was resurrection.

Martha's Honest Faith

When Martha heard Jesus was coming, she rushed out to meet Him. Her words reveal the raw honesty of grief mixed with faith: "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."

Have you ever felt disappointed with God? Have you ever looked at circumstances that didn't unfold as you prayed they would and felt that sting of "if only"? Martha's words give us permission to bring our honest disappointments to Jesus.

But notice what follows immediately: "But even now I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give You."

Even now. Even with her brother four days dead. Even with hope seemingly extinguished. Even in the depths of grief. Martha still believed.

This is the dance between faith and hope. They should always move together, yet sometimes our circumstances, our fears, our eyes fixed on the visible rather than the invisible, cause our hope to waver. And when hope diminishes, faith begins to crumble.

The world we live in actively works to steal our hope. Loss, tragedy, disappointment—these are the tools used to chip away at the foundation of our faith. Yet Martha shows us that even in honest grief, even in disappointment, we can hold fast to both faith and hope.

The Promise That Changes Everything

Jesus told Martha, "Your brother will rise again."

She responded with theological correctness: "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day."

She was thinking of some distant future, a far-off promise that offered little comfort in her present pain.

Jesus was thinking of the next few minutes.

Then He spoke words that would echo through eternity: "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die."

Not "I will bring about resurrection someday." Not "I teach about resurrection." But "I AM the resurrection and the life."

Present tense. Personal. Powerful.

Then came the question that reaches across time to each of us: "Do you believe this?"

What Makes Our Faith Different

Martha heard this promise before Jesus had died and risen. She had His presence and His words, but not yet the proof.

We stand on the other side of the resurrection. We have more than presence and promise—we have fulfillment. Jesus didn't just talk about resurrection; He accomplished it. He died, was buried, and on the third day rose again.

This is the sure thing in a world of uncertainties.

The stock market fluctuates. Investments fail. Even the best-laid plans crumble. But the resurrection of Jesus Christ stands as an immovable fact of history and an unshakeable foundation for faith.

Death and Resurrection in Our Lives

The pattern of death and resurrection isn't just a one-time historical event. It becomes woven into the fabric of Christian life.

In baptism, we die with Christ and rise to new life. In communion, we remember His death and participate in His life. In Scripture, we encounter the living Word who speaks life into our deadness.

Every one of these experiences reinforces the promise: death is not the end.

Facing Loss with Hope

Each of us will face death—the death of parents, spouses, children, friends, brothers and sisters in faith. These losses are devastating. They bring sadness, anger, and profound grief.

Nothing can eliminate the pain of loss. No words can magically make grief disappear.

But there is comfort that transcends all other comfort: we have a living Savior who conquered death, and He gives us the gift of life—eternal life.

When we confess, "I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting," we're not reciting empty words. We're declaring a sure thing based on the demonstrated power of Christ over death, sin, and the devil.

The Living Hope

The promise of resurrection transforms how we face every loss. It doesn't eliminate grief, but it infuses grief with hope. We mourn, but not as those who have no hope.

The names and faces of those we've loved and lost remain precious to us. The longing to see them again is real. But that longing is not wishful thinking—it's confident expectation based on the resurrection power of Jesus Christ.

He is the resurrection and the life. Not was. Not will be. IS.

And because He lives, we too shall live. This is the certainty that carries us through every valley of the shadow of death. This is the hope that cannot be shaken. This is the faith that overcomes the world.

"Do you believe this?"

Your answer to that question changes everything.

(Blog content generated by PulpitAI from sermon transcript)