calendar_today April 5, 2026

Do You Believe This?

person Pastor Israel Ledee

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Title: Do You Believe This?

Scripture: John 11:17–27

Introduction

The story that we have just heard about Abraham and his son Isaac shows us that believers in the Old Testament also trusted in the power of God—specifically, in His ability to resurrect. The writer of Hebrews interprets Abraham’s actions and tells us that Abraham “considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead.”

If we were to ask Abraham, “Do you believe that God is the resurrection and the life?” he would have said yes. And the reason he could say yes is because he demonstrated it with his actions. He was willing to put to death the very son through whom God’s promises would come. The telltale sign you believe in the power of the resurrection is your reaction to the threat of death!

Now, this morning, we are not necessarily going to look directly at the resurrection of Jesus, but I want us to consider the principle of resurrection. Because in seeing this principle, we begin to see more clearly who Jesus says He is.

And if it is true—if Jesus is who He says He is—then we must answer the question:
Do we believe Him?

If Jesus is the resurrection and the life,
if He is the one who gives life to those who believe in Him,
and if everyone who believes in Him will never truly die,
then the question before us is simple and unavoidable:

Do we believe this?
And if so, can we tell you believe this by the way you live your life?

The telltale sign you believe in the power of the resurrection is your reaction to the threat of death!

With that in mind, let us read from John chapter 11, verses 17–27:

17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.
18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off,
19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.
20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house.
21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

A Relatable Story – Disappointment

As we look at this story together, I want to divide it into three movements:

A Relatable Story – Disappointment
A Relatable End – Death
A Relatable Question – Do you believe this?

Let’s begin with the first:

A Relatable Story – Disappointment

When you read this story, you immediately feel the weight of disappointment.

Here is a man who was well-loved by his community. He had a close social circle, and he leaves behind two beloved sisters—Mary and Martha. It seems that he had a strong social standing, because many had come from about two miles outside Jerusalem to be with them.

But as you read the story, what stands out is not just the crowd—it is the disappointment.
The sense of being let down.
The sense of being dealt the wrong hand.

It feels as though Jesus has made a mistake.
As if He has miscalculated.
As if His intentions were right, but His timing was off.
As if He did not properly account for the situation.

You can feel Mary and Martha’s disillusionment.

Here they are—people who believed in Jesus, who had seen His power at work. And it wasn’t as if they were passive or late in responding. They were not negligent. They were not indifferent.

They acted quickly.

They saw the situation clearly. They understood that Lazarus’ condition was dire. Death was not far off—it was near, pressing in, reaching out for their brother. So they made haste. They sought help. They sent for Jesus, believing He could bring a remedy.

Death was crouching at the door.
It was rearing its ugly head.
It was grasping for Lazarus.

They needed someone who could stop it.

But after all their urgency, after all their effort, after all their expectation—they are met with the very thing they were trying to avoid:

Death.

And if we are honest, we can relate deeply with Mary and Martha.

Disappointed

I believe that, out of all the disappointments we experience, the ones that frustrate us the most are the ones we feel could have been avoided.

It is one thing to be disappointed because someone broke into your home while you were on vacation.
But it is another thing entirely to find out that thieves got in because the front door was left open unintentionally.

Both are disappointments.
But one lands harder than the other—because it feels preventable.

And if we are honest, we have often felt like Martha and Mary.

We have felt disappointment—not just with circumstances, but at times, even with God—because we believe it could have been avoided.

The circumstances of your life…
The events of your childhood…
Opportunities you never had…
Situations that unfolded in ways you never expected…

You look back and think: God had the power to do something.
He could have acted differently.
He could have brought about His purposes another way.

And yet—here you are.

Disappointed.

This is what makes this such a relatable story.

We can feel what Mary and Martha are feeling. Their disappointment is not distant from us—it is familiar. It is close. It is human.

And as we continue to observe the story, the text gives us an important detail:

When Jesus arrives, Lazarus has already been in the tomb for four days.

And if we step back just a few verses, we see something even more striking—this was not accidental.

It was intentional.

When Jesus heard about Lazarus’ illness, He chose to remain where He was for two more days (v. 6).

And when Martha comes to meet Jesus, she does not begin with gratitude. She does not say, “Thank you for coming,” or “Here is the guest book, please leave us a word of encouragement for the days ahead.”

She says what many of us would have said: v. 21

“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Martha is convinced—absolutely convinced—that if Jesus had been there, things would have been different. She believes His presence would have changed the outcome. She knows He has the power to heal, to delay, even to prevent death.

And it seems this conviction was shared.

Because when Mary comes to Jesus, she says the exact same thing. Not words of thanks. Not words of gratitude. But as if rehearsed, as if repeated again and again in her mind:

“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Two sisters.
One grief.
One shared disappointment.

They know Jesus has power.
They know He has authority.

Or do they?

Think about it—no one has overcome death. And yet they speak as though Jesus could have prevented it.

But here is the question:

If Jesus has the power to prevent death,
why do they struggle to believe that He might also have the power to use death for His glory?

Now before we answer that question, I want us to consider the second movement:

A Relatable End – Death

The occasion for this story is the death of Lazarus.

And I think it’s important for us to ponder death, because it is also an occurrence that is going to happen to all of us here. We, like Lazarus, will one day die. We can relate with death in that way, it too will be our end. But there is another reason why to ponder death: it stands in direct contrast to what Jesus says about Himself.

Jesus says, (v. 25) “I am the resurrection and the life.”
So the question is: If Jesus is life, what is death?

If I were to define death biologically, I would say it is the end of the life of a person or organism. But we know that we are more than biology. Therefore, although that is a good starting point, a purely biological definition of death is still lacking.

Interestingly enough, the Bible does not spend a lot of energy trying to define death scientifically or biologically. Rather, it defines death theologically. In other words, it gives us the reason why death exists in the first place.

One author puts it this way:

“The Bible does not give us a scientific analysis of death, for it does not give us a scientific understanding of biological life. However, it does describe death in ordinary language and teaches us the theological significance of death. The most important truth the Bible teaches us on this subject is that God imposes death as a judicial consequence of sin (Rom. 6:23).”

What he is saying—and what the Bible says—is that the reason we experience death of any sort, whether physical, emotional, relational, or spiritual, is sin.

It may not always be the immediate cause, but it is the root cause.

What does death produce? Fundamentally, separation!

When someone dies, they are…

Separated from relationships.
Separated from others.

And ultimately, separated from God.

Scripture teaches us that the reason death is the penalty for sin is because sin itself causes a relational rupture—not merely physically with family and friends, but spiritually with God.

So if Jesus is the resurrection and the life, whatever that means must include a restoration of that relationship.

In other words, if Jesus is the resurrection and the life, then He is addressing our most fundamental problem:

Our broken relationship with God.

Sin and death are separation, but Jesus is restoration!

Jesus’ resurrection would be the Father’s approval of the work he did to reconcile us to the Father!

Christ reconciles us to God—our most fundamental need—and from that reconciliation, life begins to flow into every area of our lives.

Notice what Jesus says in verse 25:

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.”

At first glance, it almost sounds like a contradiction.

Is He the resurrection and the life—or is He not?
And if He is, why are people still dying?

What Jesus is saying is this:

As the resurrection, He has the power to overcome death.
As the life, He is the one who gives life—and life in abundance.

And when you are united to Jesus, life begins to well up inside of you in such a way that, although death may come upon you for a season, it does not have the power to rule you forever.

Think of a dam that is holding back water, preventing it from moving forward.

Have you ever seen a dam begin to break under the very water it is trying to restrain?

That is what the life of Christ is like in those who are united to Him.

He is the resurrection and the life.

He has the power to overcome death, and He gives a life so powerful that, although death may appear to have won, it is only like a dam that appears to be winning. The day will come when it loses. So too death!

That is why Jesus says in verse 26:

“Everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”

What He means is not that you will never die physically, but that you will never die spiritually.

And because you are so alive spiritually—like a seed planted in the ground that bursts forth with life—one day even your body, which was laid in the ground, will be raised.

Jesus solves our most fundamental problem:

Spiritual death.

He comes to overcome not only our sinful tendencies, but the greatest consequence of our sin—which is death itself.

The rupture.
The separation.
The broken relationship with God.

And as the resurrection, He overcomes the last enemy—the very thing that would keep us separated from God forever.

And as the life, He gives us life—life in abundance.

So now, through Him, we can walk in newness of life.

What is this newness of life?

It is to say with Paul:

“It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

What is this newness of life?

It is a Spirit-enabled power to not gratify the desires of the flesh—to not live in sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, enmity, strife, or jealousy.

It is the ability to have joy even when circumstances are bleak.
To have peace when your soul is tempted by fear.
To have patience when you are tired and weary.
To show kindness when met with malice.
To experience the goodness and faithfulness of God.

It is to walk in gentleness and self-control—not by human strength, but by the power of God.

But now, I want to return to the question we left off with.

Mary and Martha believed that Jesus could save their brother from death.

But could they believe that He had power over death?
Power to resurrect their brother?

And here we encounter…

A Relatable Question – Do You Believe This?

A question that Jesus poses to Martha—
and a question He poses to us this morning: