The Steady I AM

“Jesus is saying, ‘I am not just someone who resurrects, but I am the resurrection itself. I have life in myself. I am the source of life.’” — Tim Keller

My family and I spent the month of January captivated by the documentary series The Americas. Each episode explores a different pocket of the continents, peeling back layers of life across animals and landscapes.

Every week, we would eagerly await the next time all seven of us would be in the same room at the same time (this requires immense patience) to take in whatever Western Hemisphere survival story would unfold next under Tom Hanks’ narration.

One segment that stands out to me is the life of the monarch butterfly. Monarch butterflies migrate miles upon miles in a mysterious, multi-generational pilgrimage. While many do not survive the journey, the final generation arrives in the very same trees in Mexico each year.

A forest made up of millions of monarchs, all shimmering together in a breathtaking display of beauty, is a remarkable picture. Yet the spreading of wings for each butterfly comes at a cost. Long before their flight can take place, a chrysalis transformation must occur. And what appears to be a lifeless end of a caterpillar turns out to be the hidden beginning of a butterfly.

A miniature workshop of renewal unfolds within the cocoon. A life is not lost, but transformed. Even more notable, the monarch’s journey is sustained by the light. They depend on the sun to breathe life into them and carry them forward. The sun serves as a compass to a monarch, helping them know which way to go. And the sun preserves their life, giving them the energy they need to fly.

As I ponder this monarch miracle, I am struck by a deeper wonder: if the fragile remaking of a butterfly can captivate an audience, how much more might the resurrection of Christ captivate His children?

Consider John 11 and the story of Lazarus:

“This illness does not lead to death.
It is for the glory of God,
so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
(John 11:4)

While Lazarus was sick, Jesus spoke these words to his disciples. And then Lazarus died while Jesus was not with him.

“It led to death,” they must have thought.
But it did not end in death.

It led straight through death…to new life.

Because the One who is
the Bread of Life,
the Light of the World,
the Door of the Sheep,
the Good Shepherd,
the Way, the Truth, and the Life,
the True Vine…
is also the One who says:

“I am the Resurrection and the Life.
Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.”
(John 11:25)

Standing before the tomb, the story of Lazarus gives us a glimpse of what Easter will reveal in full. Resurrection was not just something Jesus did. It is who He is. And it is our hope.

Jesus goes on to say that whoever—yes, whoever—has a personal trust in Him will also be led straight through death to new life.

And this is how I imagine it:

Weeping sisters, wilted moment,
The death of Lazarus.
Power distant, hope unravels,
A sealed-up chrysalis.

Sorrow sinking in the shadows,
Tear-stained at the tomb—
“I AM,” says Jesus, “the Resurrection,”
And the grave became a womb.

Death conquered, He wakes the grave,
A new day breaking on.
Unfolding story, butterfly wings
Opening toward the dawn.

Eternal beauty bursting forth,
Death cannot keep its claim.
Life sustained by His light—
In Him, we rise again.

After declaring that He is the Resurrection and the Life, Jesus asks Martha if she believes this. She says yes.

And then…He weeps.

He stands with the sisters in their sorrow, even as He knows what He is about to do.

Do you believe that Jesus is who He says He is?
The One who weeps with you in your sorrow…
and like the light to a butterfly, guides and sustains you each day.

The One who laid down His life and took it up again—so that you might share in His resurrection.

Let it be true!
Easter is upon us…
and the story does not end in death—it opens into life.