John 11:23 Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again. (24) Martha said to Him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection in the last day. (25) Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes into Me, even if he should die, shall live; (26) And every one who lives and believes into Me shall by no means die forever. Do you believe this? (27) She said to Him, Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, He who comes into the world.
[In verses 23-24,] Martha expounded this word of the Lord so as to postpone the present resurrection to the last day. What an expounding of the divine word! What devastating knowledge of fundamental teaching that frustrates people from enjoying the Lord's present resurrection life! [In verses 25-26,] The Lord seemed to be telling her, "It is not a matter of time. There is no problem of time with Me. Nothing is too late, and nothing is too early. As long as I am here, everything will be all right, for I will raise up your brother." Then the Lord asked Martha, "Do you believe this?" What she answered [in verse 27] absolutely was not what the Lord asked. She was not clear about what the Lord was saying. Her old, preoccupying knowledge prevented her from understanding the Lord's new word. Martha is like many Christians today who have a great deal of knowledge and doctrine... She believed in a certain kind of doctrine that the Lord is the Christ and the Son of God. She believed in the doctrine that the Lord will raise up all of the dead saints in the last day. She had all the knowledge, but it was not the living knowledge that the Lord taught. All of her different opinions were due to the fact that she had all the knowledge. Today, many Christians have opinions because they have so many teachings. When someone talks with them about the inner life, they immediately begin to share their opinions. Too much knowledge and too many doctrines breed endless opinions [that hinder them from experiencing the present Christ as resurrection life].
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-Study of John, pp. 279-280. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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