"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?" ~ John 11:25,26
When Jesus walks up to a grave, resurrection inevitably results. "Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." Fantastic? Yes. To us, from where we live here on earth. Almost meaningless at the moment a human heart collapses with grief at the sight of the still, lifeless face of a physically dead loved one. But Jesus said that whosoever believes in Him shall never die. We have His word for that. And the moment our hearts collapse with grief they have also collapsed, for that moment with unbelief.
Didn't Jesus weep? Yes. "Jesus wept ... [and] Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave" of the friend whose earthly body and human personality and companionship He had loved so much. He wept and groaned with grief. But some of that grief must have been the grief that has been on the heart of God since "the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world." God knew that a Cross of pain would be set up because of our disobedience, and His grief was and is intense. It was human grief, but it was godly sorrow too. The sorrow that proved itself on Calvary.
Jesus was eternal life at the grave of His friend Lazarus. But He made this life accessible to all of us the moment He stood outside His own empty tomb. Your loved one has not died. The resurrection covers even your grief. According to Jesus Himself who is the resurrection, "... Though he were dead, yet shall he live."
"... Believest thou this? ..."
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