Question:  Dear Greg,

            I was reading “My Utmost For His Highest”, which took me to John 11:26.  Can you clarify Jesus’ teaching in this verse?

            Bob

Answer:  Dear Bob,

            I assume you are questioning Jesus’ statement that those who believe in him “will never die”.

            What meaning did Jesus attach to the word “die”?  The immediate context—  John chapter 11— is about the death and resurrection of Jesus’ friend, Lazarus, from the dead.  While physical life is obviously being discussed, it is subservient to the greater discussion of eternal life, life of the age to come.  In verse 25 Jesus claims to be the resurrection and the life, and in the context of the discussion of this chapter, he never died in the sense that humans die and have no hope of future life beyond the grave.

            This was the reason Lazarus was resurrected, for Lazarus was “revived” for a limited period of time, perhaps a few decades or less, and then he died again.  He has not yet been resurrected.  Why resurrect him then?  Because Jesus was demonstrating for a far greater audience--for tens of millions for the past two thousand years--that death and the grave do not defeat God’s purpose.  Those who accept Jesus will not die and remain dead— they will die and be resurrected to life eternal.

            Further, to take another sense of what Jesus was saying, once we accept Christ and trust in him completely as our Lord and Savior, we have “crossed over from death to life.”  That is a reality now.  We are now seated with Christ in heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6).

            Secondly, look at the context of the book.  The book of John mentions life more than any other New Testament book.  The life it is talking about is not this physical life, but new life in Christ, resurrected life in which the risen Lord lives his life in us.  John 20:31 is a summary statement of the theme of this book.

            In Christ,

            Greg Albrecht