John 11:25-26 Meaning — I Am the Resurrection and the Life

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Jesus spoke these words to Martha at her brother Lazarus's grave, just before raising him.

Notice he does not say he gives resurrection, but that he is it. Resurrection and life are not powers he wields from a distance; they are bound up in his very person. To have him is to have life that death cannot end.

Then comes the question that hangs over the whole scene, and over every reader: believest thou this? The promise is staggering — those who believe in him will live even though they die, and never truly die. Jesus turns the grave from a wall into a door, and asks each of us whether we trust him.