The Gospel's Scandalous Claim - Jesus is the Life

On first glance, this seems like a strange thing to say. However, on a walk through the woods during the early days of lockdown I soon understood what this meant. I had been asked to deliver a short meditation on the subject and was looking for inspiration, and somewhere to shoot a short video clip. I had been furloughed. It felt like my life was on hold, not just my career. Then I heard it: birdsong. Water in a stream below us. The wind gently teasing through tree branches. Bees buzzing around looking for nectar. It was as if the world around me was oblivious to the fact that my life was on hold. Then it struck me: my life was not on hold. No-one had pressed the pause button. My life was still continuing. It was different. That was all. Life had not stopped. And while life had not stopped, there was hope. In fact, even when life has stopped, Jesus still brings hope, in the most awesome way. I know that word is often overused. But I fail to see how raising lifeless people from death can be called anything else. When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and the people playing pipes, he said, ‘Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.’ But they laughed at him. After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. News of this spread through all that region. Matthew 9:23‭-‬26 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/mat.9.23-26.NIVUK Soon afterwards, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out – the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, ‘Don’t cry.’ Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, ‘Young man, I say to you, get up!’ The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. Luke 7:11‭-‬15 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/luk.7.11-15.NIVUK When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth round his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Take off the grave clothes and let him go.’ John 11:43‭-‬44 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/jhn.11.43-44.NIVUK What other leader or religious figure has touched a comatose girl on a bed, or a young boy on a bier, or called a corpse from a grave and they have risen from the dead? What other being has actually been certified by His enemies and His friends as clinically and unmistakably dead (John 19:31-37), but defeated death and rose again (John 20-21)? Does this seem impossible? Remember, we are not dealing with an ordinary human being here. Jesus is God. He was there in the very beginning (John 1:2). He gave life to all creation (John 1:3). He is life (John 1:4). In Him we live, move and have our being (Acts 17:28). If we are trapped in a naturalistic universe with no god, then death is the ultimate enemy and of course resurrection is impossible. But if our universe has God, and He sets the rules of nature, then He is absolutely able to break these and bring resurrection life to the world. And this is not just any life. There are many fantasy and sci fi films that have portrayed the ability to live forever as a miserable existence, living on while everything and everyone around you dies. This is completely out of step with what the Bible teaches. The life that comes in Jesus is full, vigorous, surpassing all its quality (John 10:10). This doesn't mean that we will all have a huge mansion, a fleet of sports cars, a pool and a parade of endlessly attractive partners. This is a hugely empty, self-indulgent life. No, the life Jesus gives us is truly a life worth living. No other leader or thinker or philosopher can promise this. Neither Buddha nor Mohammed nor the Pope nor any president, wise man or theologian in history can promise you that you will definitely get into heaven and be with God forever because they do not have the authority. Jesus Christ, on the other hand, can and does. Why? Because He is the Life. He is God. He has the authority. A life truly worth living does not require ostentatious wealth, or selfless altruism or a dynamic contribution to society. It does not require power, fame, fortune or force of intellect. It requires one thing and one thing only. It requires Jesus Christ. Because He is the Life. No-one else can make that claim. A life truly worth living begins and ends with Jesus Christ. So does your life begin with Him?