July 29
Gospel
John 11:19-27
I am the resurrection and the life
Many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to sympathise with them over their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus had come she went to meet him. Mary remained sitting in the house. Martha said to Jesus, ‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I know that, even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you.’ ‘Your brother’ said Jesus to her ‘will rise again.’ Martha said, ‘I know he will rise again at the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said:
‘I am the resurrection and the life.
If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live,
and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?’
‘Yes, Lord,’ she said ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.’
Reflection
In John 11:25–26, Jesus names the heart of the Christian hope: I am the resurrection and the life. Martha’s instinctive faith—“Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ”—meets Jesus’ proclamation that life overcomes death. Jesus doesn’t merely promise a future awakening; he invites a present trust that awakens the soul here and now. To believe is not to pretend death isn’t real, but to acknowledge that in Christ life has the final word. When we bring our grief, questions, and longing to him, we encounter the healing truth that faith in Jesus reorients our deepest fears toward the eternal life he embodies.
One reflection question
- How does Jesus’ claim to be the resurrection and the life shape the way you handle sorrow and uncertainty in your own life?
Prayer
Loving Lord, thank you for the gift of life offered through your Son. Help me to hold fast to your promise that in you there is life beyond death. Strengthen my faith when I doubt, comfort me in my grief, and empower me to walk in the light of your resurrection today. May my life reflect the hope you give, and may I declare with Martha, Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God. Amen.
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