Martha broke down in tears before Jesus, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Perhaps many have said something similar, “If you were here… if you cared… if you were real… “

Jesus didn’t try and give a reason why. He felt what Martha felt and wept. 

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.” 

Then he stood before the gravestone and he called her brother by name, “Lazarus, come out!” And Lazarus walked out of the grave.

This is Jesus’ last sign in John’s Gospel. It is Jesus’ final illustration of who he is, the Good Shepherd who will not lose even one of his sheep. 

“Continually let us say to ourselves and to others, ‘There is a Resurrection’” John Chrysostom (late 300s AD)