March 22, 2026 

In John 11:25-26, Jesus tells Martha that He is the resurrection and the life. He shifts her focus from a future event to His present power, showing that life is found in Him even in the face of death and grief.

Devotional: Some days the hardest part of faith is not believing that God can do something. It is believing He is present when nothing seems to be changing. That is where Martha is. Her brother is dead. Her grief is real. Her disappointment is real. And Jesus meets her there, not with a quick fix, but with a deeper truth. He tells her that resurrection is not only something God will do someday. Resurrection is standing in front of her.

That matters because most of us live with some version of a sealed tomb. It may not be physical death, but it can feel just as final. A hurt you never got over. A fear that settled in and made itself at home. A dream that died quietly. A piece of your heart that has gone numb. We know what it is to stand in front of something and think, this is just how it is now.

Jesus does not agree with that. He does not deny grief, but He does not surrender to it either. He speaks life in the very place where Martha has learned to expect loss. Lent teaches us to name what is broken honestly, but it also teaches us not to mistake brokenness for the end of the story.

If Jesus is the resurrection and the life, then there is no place so shut down that He cannot speak into it. There is no fear so familiar that it gets to define you forever. There is no dead place in you that is beyond His reach. The question is not whether He has life to give. The question is whether we are willing to trust Him enough to hear Him calling us forward.

Action: Name one place in your life that feels sealed shut, and bring it honestly to Jesus in prayer today.

Prayer: Jesus, thank You that You do not meet me with empty words. You meet me with Your own life. In the places where I feel discouraged, shut down, or afraid, remind me that You are still the resurrection and the life. Teach me not to let grief, fear, or disappointment become the loudest voice in my heart. Help me trust that You are present even before I see change. Call me forward from what has held me back, and give me grace to answer You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Thought for the Day: Jesus does not only promise life later, He brings life now.

In John 11:25–26, Jesus tells Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life.” He does not point her only to a future hope. He points her to Himself. That matters when life feels heavy and something in us feels sealed shut. Christ still speaks life into dead places, and He still calls people forward from what binds them.