WordofLife April 2010

"I am the resurrection and the life“ (Jn 11,25)

Jesus said these words after the death of Lazarus of Bethany, the Lazarus he raised to life four days after he’d died.

Lazarus had two sisters, Martha and Mary. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she immediately ran to meet him and said, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’

‘Your brother will rise again,’ Jesus answered. She replied, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’ Then Jesus declared: ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.’

"I am the resurrection and the life“ (Jn 11,25)

Jesus wants to make clear who he is for human beings. He possesses the most precious thing anyone could want: Life, the Life that will never die.

If you’ve read John’s gospel, you’ll have found that Jesus also said: ‘Just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself’. And since Jesus has Life, he can give it to others.

"I am the resurrection and the life“ (Jn 11,25)

Martha believed in the final resurrection: ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’

But with his wonderful affirmation, ‘I am the resurrection and the life,’ Jesus tells her that she does not have to wait for the future to hope in the resurrection of the dead.

Right now, in the present moment, for all those who believe in him, he is already that divine, ineffable, eternal Life that will never die.

If Jesus is in those who believe, if he is in you, you will not die. This Life in the believer has the same nature as the risen Jesus and is, therefore, quite different from the human condition in which we find ourselves.

And this extraordinary Life, which already exists in you, will become fully manifest on the last day when, with your whole being, you will take part in the resurrection that is to come.

"I am the resurrection and the life“ (Jn 11,25)

But it will no longer mean that existence is pointless, no longer be absurd, the failure of life, your final end. Death, for you, will no longer be really a death. With these words Jesus is certainly not denying that physical death exists. But that does not imply the loss of true Life. Death will remain for you, as for everyone, a unique, intense, perhaps feared experience.

"I am the resurrection and the life“ (Jn 11,25)

And when was this undying Life born in you? In your baptism. There, even though, as a human being you were destined to die, you received immortal Life from Christ. In your baptism, in fact, you received the Holy Spirit who is the One who raised Jesus from the dead.

The condition for receiving this sacrament was the faith you professed, perhaps through your godparents. On the occasion of the rising of Lazarus, Jesus stated clearly to Martha: ‘Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live … Do you believe this?’

‘Believing’, here, is something very serious, very important. It does not mean simply accepting the truths Jesus has proclaimed; it means adhering to them with your whole being.

To have this Life, therefore, you must say your ‘yes’ to Christ. And this means adherence to his words, to his commands: living them. Jesus reinforced this, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never see death’. And the teachings of Christ are summed up in love. So you cannot but be happy: in you there is Life!

"I am the resurrection and the life“ (Jn 11,25)

In this period of preparation to celebrate Easter, let’s help one another make that decisive shift, which we have always to renew, towards the death of our ego, so that from now on Christ, the Risen One, may live in us.

“Word of Life”, monthly publication of the Focolare Movement. Original text by: Chiara Lubich, March Graphic design by Anna Lollo in collaboration with Fr. Placido D’Omina (Sicily - Italy) This commentary on the Word of Life is translated in 96 languages, and it reaches millions of people through the press, radio, TV and internet. For more information visit This Powerpoint presentation is translated in various languagesAnna LolloPlacido D’Ominawww.focolare.org and is published on "I am the resurrection and the life“ (Jn 11,25)