Every revelation of these I AM's that we are studying helps us see more of God’s glory. But nearly all of them come through some sense of need. It was to those that were hungry that He said, ‘I AM the bread of life’. It was to those who saw their own blindness that He said, ‘I AM the light of the world.’ It was to the shepherd-less sheep that He said, ‘I am the good Shepherd.’ And it was in the context of death itself that Jesus said, ‘I AM the resurrection and the life’. 

Jesus’ declaration, “I AM the resurrection and the life.” is one of the greatest of the I AM claims of Jesus Christ. But what did Jesus mean by this? Can you remember the time and events that surrounded it? It is a massive claim for anyone to make! If you or I were downtown and someone was yelling out ‘I am the resurrection and the life’ we would probably think to ourselves ‘you are, unfortunately, a nut job!’ But like quite a few of the other I AM statements; Jesus backed up His words with action that proved the validity of them. 

If you or I said ‘I AM the resurrection and the life’ how would we back it up? That's right. We would have to raise someone who was truly dead, back to life! For Jesus, that person was of course His well-loved friend Lazarus. And because Jesus backed up His statement with action, we can be assured that His statement is for us as well. Jesus being the resurrection and the life is both a present and a future reality and hope for all who believe in Jesus. The Bible speaks of the resurrection as something that will happen in the future but also something that we can experience now. It speaks of life as something we enter into when we die... but also as a reality and hope for this life as well. As believers in Christ, we rejoice in the gift of eternal life and resurrection that can only come from Jesus Christ. What beautiful words to hear and to understand from our precious Savior, “I am the resurrection and the life.”