Question for You (Part 2)

We see the Burning Bush throughout the Gospel of John in the “I Am” statements of Jesus Christ; the God of the Burning Bush and the God of Sinai is the God of the Sermon on the Mount and the God unveiling Himself in the Gospel of John.

“I am the resurrection and the life”, John 11:25.

Martha’s orientation was the past, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died,” (11:21). Then it was the future, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day, (11:24).”

Mary’s orientation was the past, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died,” (11:32).

This is not to deny Martha’s (and Mary’s) faith and vision of Christ, for Martha says, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who comes into the world.” After all, we are (let us hope) learning to see Jesus Christ in his glory in an ever-increasing way of life – is this not the purpose of life? To love him, to know him, to worship him, to glorify him?

There is a sense in which John 11 is the prelude to Holy Week, or might be said to be a prelude to the Resurrection – the Kingdom that has been coming has a Bay of Fundy ebb and flow in the small case resurrection of Lazarus as Jesus reveals that “I Am the Resurrection and the life; he who believes in me will live even if he dies.” (See also John 5:24 – 29).

The John who writes the Gospel is the John who also writes the words of Christ, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living one; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and hades,” (Revelation 1:17 – 18).

Perhaps we should take our shoes off?