“I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE” (JOHN 11:25-26): TWO CLAIMS

I recently realized when Jesus said that he is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25a) that he was making two, albeit related, claims.  My lack of apprehension was because I had taken for granted translations that have Jesus saying in the next verse (26a), “The one who lives and believes in me will never die” (NET, see how NRSV and NIV also say “never”).  I had wondered what sense that made, since all people die, unless Jesus was referring to those alive at the Second Coming.  However, that concept is not part of the immediate context.  I had never looked at the text closely. 

Context and Explanation
This text is found in John 11:25-26. Just before Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, Martha affirms her belief that Lazarus would come back to life again at the last day.  That is to say she believed in a Jewish concept of a resurrection of the dead at the time of final judgement.  However, her belief was not specifically grounded on Jesus.  Jesus here directs her to trust in him.  Jesus tells her he is (both) the resurrection and the life.  This not a hendiadys, a single concept expressed by two nouns.  Jesus is making two claims, which he then clarifies.  His first statement is,

“The one who is believing into me (= entrusting oneself to) even if he dies will live” (25b).  

That is to say that Jesus is the source of all those who will be resurrected at the last day.  Jesus is one responsible for resurrection of the dead.  That specific claim is then supported by the following sign of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead (11:41-44).  However, Jesus goes on to say,

“And everyone who is living and believing into me will not die into the ages (eis ton aiona)” (26a).

This is where English translations often simply say, “will never die.”  Although this translation is not exactly wrong, it misses the point of the language.  “Into the ages,” particularly following a claim of resurrection, has an eschatological meaning.  Jesus is making a second claim about himself.  The gift of continuing to live forever (“into the ages”) also rests with/in Jesus.  Therefore, having said he is the resurrection AND the life, Jesus in verses 25-26, invites Martha to realize that he is both the source of resurrection of the dead and the source of eternal life.

Another implication is significant.  One might logically assume that being granted life into the ages is subsequent to being resurrected from the dead.  However, since Jesus in both statements uses the present participle (ongoing action) when referring to the “one believing in me” (25b) and “all who are believing in me” (26a), we should understand that the eschatological nature of eternal life begins with the commitment of entrusting oneself to Jesus; that is, it begins in the present.  This same point about “into the ages” and the beginning of eternal life helps to clarify John 8:51. There Jesus says, “whoever keeps my word, will not behold death into the ages.”  The commitment to Jesus’ word in the present results in a life that lasts into the ages (forever).  Whether or not Jesus immediate audience understood it, Jesus was making the eschatological claim of eternal life beginning in the present.

The counterpart, the end result of those not entrusting themselves to Jesus, is implied both here and at 8:51 (see, too, John 6:50-51 and 10:25-30.  That is, they apparently do die “into the ages.”  They suffer an eschatological death - forever.  (See the preceding post about the final judgment being eternal death, the “second death” of Revelation, November 14, 2025.) 

Application
Obviously, Jesus’ invitation to Martha applies to me.  I am to realize that Jesus is both the source of resurrection of the dead and the source of eternal life.  For me, Jesus’ claims here are deeper and more profound than I have realized.  I will not again speak of Jesus being the resurrection and the life as glibly as I have before.  All power over death and the grave belongs to Jesus.  The gift of eternal life belongs to Jesus.  All I can do is worship.

I GRIEVE BECAUSE OF CHRISTIANS.

I grieve that people are not walking with Jesus because of Christians.  I am speaking about something much deeper than political division.  I have friends who are atheists or agnostics due to their experience with Christians.  Today, again, I met another fine man who is an agnostic.  He would like to believe in a God, but because Christians have taught him that all non-Christians will “go to hell,” he does not want anything to do with Jesus.  That is what grieves me deeply.  That is not good biblical theology.  Very briefly and without full explanations, this is what I would like to tell such people, if they were open to listening:

1.   The basic biblical message is that God wants to be in a close, eternal relationship with those whom God created.  God humbles God-self to effect such relationships.

2.   Read literally the key biblical texts, such as John 3:16: and Rom 6:23, tell us that there two spiritual options: people either can accept eternal life with God or they will die, not that they will either live eternally with God or live eternally tormented.

a.   The popular teaching that everyone has an eternal soul and can never die comes from ancient Greek thought. It is not biblical. It is read into the Bible.

b.   In Gen 3, when Adam and Eve seek to become like God, they do die; they are banned from eating from the Tree of Life.  The clear implication is that they were created mortal but had the opportunity of living forever removed because of their sin.

c.   The popular-level doctrine of “hell” comes from conflating two different concepts: Gehenna, the depository place of dead bodies, and Hades, the holding place until the resurrection of the dead. (The conflation can be seen in 9^th century Anglo-Saxon translations that render both terms by “hel/helle” [underworld].)  Revelation calls the final judgement of death, after the resurrection of the dead, the “second death” (20:6,14; 21:8).  In the 1^st century AD, mortals (vs. angels) being thrown into a lake fire symbolized the complete destruction of the person.

3.   God does not limit the option of life to the “informed” (e.g. Jews or Christians).  Paul recognizes in Romans 2 that non-Jews who did not have the law and were not circumcised (a sign of being a member of the covenant community) could have the law “in their hearts” and be spiritually “circumcise” (i.e. belong to the community of faith; see 2:11-16, 26-29).  God welcomes people from every nation who totally respect God (Luke 1:50; Acts 10:34-35).

4.   The main Christ redemption event was to reveal fully the heart of God who is willing lower God-self and then to “lift up” and remove sin, that is to bring people into a state of forgiveness and reconciliation.

5.   The salvific language in the Gospels is that people now can participate in the Kingdom of God (eternal life); they can now become participants in Christ, in God; and that God participates now in them through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

When we do not communicate the biblical message of God’s love accurately or well, we hinder people from walking closely with Jesus.  It is not their fault.  It is ours, Christians.

Note: I understand that my points above do not conform to popular, Christian “orthodoxy.”  My efforts as a biblical scholar – recognizing that I am frail and fallible – are to understand to the best of my ability what the biblical terms and concepts meant to the original Jewish and Christian audiences in their time and culture.  Here is an example, although it is centuries later than the New Testament.  Probably millions of people in the US every Sunday recite from one of the ancient Christian creeds something to the effect of how they “believe in the resurrection of the dead.”  I wonder how many of them realize that they are affirming the belief that at the Second Coming of Jesus the dead will then be resurrected?  How many understand the biblical teaching of the resurrection of the dead?  Much like Jesus’ teaching on participating in the Kingdom of God now, it is generally a lost concept.