DEAD MAN WALKING
SCRIPTURE
When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."
-John 11:43-44
The story of Lazarus is a personal and dramatic healing by Jesus. Lazarus was dead for three days. They wrapped him in burial strips and had every reason to believe rigor mortis had set in. We know that Mary and Martha, Lazarus's sisters, were unhappy about Jesus's delay. They knew Jesus could have healed his illness, but three days dead in the tomb made them believe it was too late.
Maybe that's the first lesson from this story: it is never too late for Jesus to make a difference. Not in illness, marriage, work, or anything that feels hopeless. But there is a companion lesson too: don't try to tell Jesus what he could have done better!
In this grief-filled scene, Jesus shared a sentiment we don't see in other stories. He cried. I don't believe his tears were about what could have happened or even the three-day agony his friends had endured. His tears went deeper as he experienced the tug-of-war between the confines of humanity and the unfailing love of his Father. With a startling shout, he called Lazarus out of the tomb with the authority of heaven. The call woke Lazarus, restarted his heart, returned his blood flow, and removed all evidence of physical death except for the grave clothes he'd been wrapped in. It must have been frightening to see Lazarus shuffle out of the tomb—even more frightening when Jesus instructed people to remove the binding cloths.
We live bound up too—not with grave clothes but with pressures that could take us to the grave before our time. We live restricted in ways Jesus never wanted. We point fingers and share Martha's accusation, "If you had been there."
Instead, we need to hear the life-giving call to leave behind what keeps us from life in Christ, for him, and with him. I'm not sure we're ready for resurrection truth unless we hear Jesus's call to Lazarus as his call to us as well. Don't pass this story too quickly without asking what has bound you. Perhaps if we sit listening long enough, we will hear Jesus's compassionate and life-giving invitation to us: "Come out!" Then we will be ready to live resurrection truth.
BURNING QUESTIONS
1. What binds you today or in this season of life?
2. How can you obey Jesus's call to come out and live in his way?
AFFIRMATION
Jesus demonstrated power that I can live in today.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Powerful Lord, when you call me, I will come out of what has bound me.
SCRIPTURE
When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."
-John 11:43-44
The story of Lazarus is a personal and dramatic healing by Jesus. Lazarus was dead for three days. They wrapped him in burial strips and had every reason to believe rigor mortis had set in. We know that Mary and Martha, Lazarus's sisters, were unhappy about Jesus's delay. They knew Jesus could have healed his illness, but three days dead in the tomb made them believe it was too late.
Maybe that's the first lesson from this story: it is never too late for Jesus to make a difference. Not in illness, marriage, work, or anything that feels hopeless. But there is a companion lesson too: don't try to tell Jesus what he could have done better!
In this grief-filled scene, Jesus shared a sentiment we don't see in other stories. He cried. I don't believe his tears were about what could have happened or even the three-day agony his friends had endured. His tears went deeper as he experienced the tug-of-war between the confines of humanity and the unfailing love of his Father. With a startling shout, he called Lazarus out of the tomb with the authority of heaven. The call woke Lazarus, restarted his heart, returned his blood flow, and removed all evidence of physical death except for the grave clothes he'd been wrapped in. It must have been frightening to see Lazarus shuffle out of the tomb—even more frightening when Jesus instructed people to remove the binding cloths.
We live bound up too—not with grave clothes but with pressures that could take us to the grave before our time. We live restricted in ways Jesus never wanted. We point fingers and share Martha's accusation, "If you had been there."
Instead, we need to hear the life-giving call to leave behind what keeps us from life in Christ, for him, and with him. I'm not sure we're ready for resurrection truth unless we hear Jesus's call to Lazarus as his call to us as well. Don't pass this story too quickly without asking what has bound you. Perhaps if we sit listening long enough, we will hear Jesus's compassionate and life-giving invitation to us: "Come out!" Then we will be ready to live resurrection truth.
BURNING QUESTIONS
1. What binds you today or in this season of life?
2. How can you obey Jesus's call to come out and live in his way?
AFFIRMATION
Jesus demonstrated power that I can live in today.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Powerful Lord, when you call me, I will come out of what has bound me.
Posted in Lent