Read -- John 11:17-44KJV

"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die."

I was watching a television western with my brothers Anthony and Gary when one scene showed the funeral services of a man gunned down in a shootout. The cowboy parson quoted the scripture referring to Christ as, "The resurrection and the life." I told my brothers that I was pretty sure the preacher was quoting from the eleventh chapter of John.

We were staying in a motel so I proceeded to pull the Gideon Bible from the drawer. It is only in John's gospel that Jesus refers to Himself using the seven "I am" statements. In John 11:25 we read, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies." It is in this same chapter where we read of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.

Attempting to tell my brothers the story, I squeezed my nose with my fingers and dramatically paraphrased the words of Lazarus' sister. "He's been dead for four days and he stinks!" Gary and Anthony thought I had a vivid imagination, and I might. However, I was also able to share a portion of the good news of the Gospel because of a television movie. The King James version uses the archaic word, "stinketh." We read in John 11:39 (KJV) "Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto Him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days."

The death of our physical bodies is something that we all will experience one day. In Hebrews 9:27-28 we read, "Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him." We should not fear death. The Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:8, "And we are not afraid, but are quite content to die, for then we will be at home with the Lord." (Quoted from the Living Bible).

It is sad that many, as portrayed in the western, only come to God or find a need for the services of religious clergy during three major occasions. I once heard it said, "To hatch 'em, match 'em, and plant 'em." In other words: at birth, marriage, and death. We all had a good laugh after reading the eleventh chapter of John; however, it is also heartbreaking that so many could probably watch the same movie and never pickup on the spiritual application.

In 1 Peter 3:18 we read, "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit." It is only through Jesus Christ that we are able to live and see the glory of God.

Resurrection and life can only be found by believing in Jesus. Without Him we are nothing more than stinking sinners, rotting away without a future. Christ is our hope and it is only because of Him that we no longer "stinketh," but are a sweet aroma unto God.

"For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?"--2 Corinthians 2:15-16.