I AM the resurrection & the life

The eleventh chapter of the Gospel According to John (NABRE) contains the account of the raising of Lazarus from the dead. This event serves as the culmination of the signs Jesus performs in the Fourth Gospel, and it serves as a foreshadowing of Jesus’ own Resurrection. The Gospel According to John 11:25 (NABRE)—”Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live”—contains one of Jesus’ I AM statements, which tell us something about the divine nature of Jesus Christ. 

On the surface, this I AM statement seems redundant because Jesus mentions both Resurrection and life, but Jesus actually is describing two fundamentally different though related things. The Greek word translated as resurrection, ἀνάστασις (anastasis), literally means a raising or a standing up. It describes a physical characteristic of the body of being standing rather than prone, and in that sense, resurrection is something that happens to the physical body. By contrast, ζωή (zoa), the word translated as life, describes a more abstract and fundamental state of living or being alive.

Jesus is suggesting that life is not entirely determined by our bodies. Our life depends not on our body but on our soul, and though the body may be dead, the soul nonetheless can live on. While we’ve had 2,000 years to adjust to this radical concept, it’s worth reflecting on how truly extraordinary the notion is that we can live even after our bodies have decayed and passed on. Moreover, Jesus tells us he also has the ability to raise the body, and he promises that on the last day even our bodies will be raised.

you also may like our two-part study of the psalms
Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church provides an in-depth look at all 150 psalms based on The Abbey Psalms and Canticles, a translation prepared by the Benedictine monks of Conception Abbey and endorsed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). This translation is being included in new Liturgy of the Hours books. Volume I currently is available only in a digital format. Click on these links to view a sample first lesson from Volume I and another from Volume II.

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