Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary
to comfort them about their brother [Lazarus, who had died].
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming,
she went to meet him;
but Mary sat at home.
Martha said to Jesus,
“Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not have died.
But even now I know that whatever you ask of God,
God will give you.”
Jesus said to her,
“Your brother will rise.”
Martha said to him,
“I know he will rise,
in the resurrection on the last day.”
Jesus told her,
“I am the resurrection and the life;
whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live,
and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?”
She said to him, “Yes, Lord.
I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God,
the one who is coming into the world.”

I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die.

Jesus tells us He is the resurrection. As a christian, it is clear that we believe that He was indeed resurrected on Easter Sunday, but what does it mean to “Be” the resurrection? For this we need to remember God’s promise that we too will be ressurection at the end of time. Those that love God will be given glorified bodies before being taken into heaven. We will not spend eternity like the angels in heaven, as spirits with no body. God made us as Body and soul composites, that is our nature, and that is how we will live for eternity, with a mind, a free will and a physical body.

The same goes for those that are headed to hell. They too will be given a new body at the end of time, but this body will only bring them suffering and pain at the hands of all of the other evil souls in hell. This is the consequence of choosing themselves and hell over an eternity with God. But in either place, heaven or hell, we will spend our eternity as a body and a soul forever.

The perfection of aligning our will with God’s will is the ultimate goal of heaven, and our glorified bodies, perfect in every way, are the reward for that choice. But before that time comes, we are tasked with the test of using our minds, to assert our will over our bodies, to the end that we live in the way in which God made us. The mastery of the mind over the body, is what makes us unique in God’s kingdom, and it is why we are so special to Him. And as such it is why we will not be deprived of that body after we die.

So Jesus is telling us today that He is the resurrection, and so that means that He is the gateway to this perfection and to the mastery of our mind and body. We must believe Him, so that we can find that glorious eternal life. This is why we were made, this is the task of our lives, And this is what we must never desist from working at it every day. If we are successful, then we will hear Him say on that last day, “well done, my good and faithful servant, come and enter into my glory.” Oh, that I long to hear those words, and to revel in the glory of God forever.

Please lord help me today to find a way to perfect a small part of my life, and have the courage and strength to pursue it with zeal and joy.