Words of Life: An Enduring Legacyনমুনা

Legacy of life: a new life.

A genre of fiction that I enjoy is ‘Alternative History’. These stories take well-known historical events as their starting point and ask, ‘What if things had happened differently?’ What if JFK wasn’t assassinated? If The Beatles hadn’t met? If Rome hadn’t burned?

This ‘what if?’ dynamic is at play in today’s reading. Lazarus – whom Jesus loves – is dead, and his sister Martha is grieving. Frustrated, she says to Jesus, ‘Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died’ (John 11:21 NLT). She looks back, longing for a different outcome, believing that if Jesus had arrived sooner, everything would be different. We too can fall into this pattern, dwelling on the past and wondering ‘if only...’ – for our lives, our communities and the situations that we wish had unfolded differently.

Instead of looking into the past and dreaming about what could have been, however, Jesus directs Martha to the future. He tells her, ‘Your brother will rise again’. Martha seems a little confused – she knows the Jewish teaching that the faithful will be raised on the last day – but then Jesus says something life-changing: ‘I am the resurrection and the life’. The future has burst into the present – resurrection life has arrived. What seems dead can receive new life, and Jesus’ own resurrection guarantees this hope for all who believe.

Because Jesus is the resurrection and the life, we don’t need to dwell on what could have been, but can trust that God is still at work, bringing new life and fresh possibilities. When we feel our best days are behind us, Jesus reminds us he is present now, offering resurrection power in all situations. Let’s choose to look forward with faith, believing that, with Christ, even what seems lost can be restored and new life can begin again.

What are the ‘if only’ moments in your life that you need to surrender to Jesus? To which aspects of your life might you ask him to bring new life?