If Only

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”   (John 11:25-26 ESV)

“Do you believe this?”

What a haunting question. For many of us, had that question been asked just weeks ago, we undoubtably would have responded, “Of course!” But now? Now as our nations writhe under the COVID-19 pandemic, now as panic sweeps our grocery stores, now as outrage begins to take a new tone, now as fear-mongering runs rampant—how does our heart answer now?

All the signs pointed to a Jesus who didn’t care, or a Jesus that had other priorities, or a Jesus that wanted to help, but was simply too late. Lazarus lay dead. Mary, grief stricken, sat numb on the floor. But Martha, ever the one to fly into action, to do something, races to meet Jesus.

”If only.”

Above every other word that passed between them hovered those words, “If only”. “If only you had been here Jesus. If only you had intervened. If only you hadn’t taken so long. If only.”

Our soul needs to hear Jesus’ response, especially in these strange days of fear and darkness. “Do you believe this?”

There is a soothing balm for the anxious soul in the presence of Jesus. Though death bares its teeth, and the grave yawns open before us, Jesus speaks a better word.

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”