Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life…”(John 11:25).

We lost a member of our family yesterday.  Suddenly, unexpectedly, he was gone, and there was only confusion and pain and emptiness for those who loved him. As is so often the case when someone dies, I find myself at this passage.  Trying to figure out the “why” and the “how,” just as Mary and Martha tried to understand why their brother Lazarus was gone.

And, as always, something strikes me.

Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life.”

Not, “I bring you resurrection and life.”

Not, “I know where you can get resurrection and life.”

I am.

Jesus is more than the source of of life.

He is life.

In him we live, and move, and have our being.

He is not bound by the grave,

and so

neither are we.

I can’t understand it, Beloved.

But I can embrace it.