不久前，我有幸在一位近亲的葬礼上宣读了这段经文。对有些人来说，耶稣有关死后生命的宣告听起来像是无稽之谈。他们可能会问：“有智慧的人怎么会相信耶稣这里所说是真的呢？人死不能复生啊。”
如果是我们当中任何一个这么宣告，他们的怀疑或许是有道理的。但这里说话的人是耶稣，神的儿子，是救主。祂后来又使马大的兄弟复活，证实了自己的话（约 11:38-44）。再后来，耶稣自己被钉十字架，受死，埋葬之后，又从死里复活，显明祂胜过死亡的大能，证明祂就是“复活和生命”（参约 19-20）。
透过降生，受死和复活，主耶稣使我们确信死后的确有生命。对于死去的人来说，坟墓并不是终点。死亡是每一个相信耶稣为救主的人进入永生的台阶。相信祂则是进入永生的唯一条件。耶稣问马大的问题也正是我们需要回答的问题。
我们相信耶稣就是复活和生命吗？对这个问题的回答决定了我们死后拥有怎样的生命。
主耶稣，帮助我们相信你就是复活和生命。给我们确信，你已经为我们胜过了死亡。阿们。
约翰福音 11:21-27
21马大对耶稣说：“主啊，你若早在这里，我兄弟必不死。
22就是现在，我也知道，你无论向神求什么，神也必赐给你。”
23耶稣说：“你兄弟必然复活。”
24马大说：“我知道在末日复活的时候，他必复活。”
25耶稣对她说：“复活在我，生命也在我。信我的人，虽然死了，也必复活；
26凡活着信我的人必永远不死。你信这话吗？”
27马大说：“主啊，是的，我信你是基督，是神的儿子，就是那要临到世界的。”
"I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?" - John 11:25-26
Not long ago I had the privilege of preaching on this text at the funeral of a close relative. To some people, the claim of Jesus about life after death might sound like nonsense. They might well ask, “How could any intelligent person think that Jesus’ claim here is true? When people die, they don’t go on living.”
Their skepticism would make sense if it were just any of us making that claim. But the person speaking here is Jesus, the Son of God, the Savior. And he later backs up his claim by raising Martha’s dead brother back to life (John 11:38-44). Then, after Jesus himself was crucified, died, and was buried, he showed his power over death by rising from the dead to prove that he is “the resurrection and the life.” (See John 19-20.)
Through his birth, death, and resurrection the Lord Jesus assures us that there is life after death. The grave is not the end for those who die. Death is a stepping stone into eternal life for everyone who believes in Jesus as Savior. The one condition is that we believe in him. The question Jesus asked Martha is a question that we have to answer as well.
Do we believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life? The answer to this question will determine whether we live after we die.
Lord Jesus, help us to believe that you are the resurrection and the life. Give us the assurance that you have overcome death for us. Amen.
诵读: 骆云秀
片头: 张妙阳
