"Taking Off the Grave Clothes" John 11:38-56

This is an amazing miracle, certainly the most dramatic of all the ones Jesus did. It is also a wonderful description of what can happen to us as we follow Jesus.

"Take away the stone!"

"The man's been dead for four days. He's gonna stink1" says Mary. Again the tension of the story is drawn tighter. But isn't it true that when we come to the Lord, even after we have committed our lives to him, that we have to own up to the parts of our lives that stink and have been deteriorating for far too long? What might you need to give to the Lord for his life-giving and restoring touch?

"Lazarus, come forth!"

At Christ's command, Lazarus walks out, wrapped up like a mummy, smelling like a perfume factory. At the crucifixion, there is an earthquake where people who had been dead walk the streets of Jerusalem. In the nearly 2,000 years since, the number of once dead that have been restored to life, number in the billions. Jesus calls people out of their dead, have-lived existences to new and full life.

"Take Off His Grave Clothes!"

They would have unwound the strips of perfumed cloth to reveal a newly alive man. Obviously, he couldn't be a walking mummy the rest of his life! Yet, I'm afraid spiritually, emotionally, mentally and relationally, we tend to do just that. We wear our grave clothes - the patterns of behavior and speech that have zapped the life out of us, the resentments over past experiences that weigh us down like a ball and chain, the attitudes that have kept us all hung up and wrapped up. Did you notice that that Lazarus could not do this on his own? He needed help from those around him. What if one of the things we are called to do is help one another get rid of our grave clothes so that we are liberated into the fullness of life in Christ?

Lazarus lives and Jesus must die.

Many of the Jewish leaders convert and become Jesus followers. The defensive reaction of the main leadership is what we would expect. The plot to take Jesus' life goes into earnest. In other passages, the one who made this prophecy was Caiaphas. The high priest position was passed between him, Annas and other family members from year to year. When he says that for the sake of the nation, Jesus must die, John writes that Jesus would be dying for a lot more than that. Caiaphas was right, but he had no clue of what he was really saying. The real picture is John 3:16 - Jesus was dying for the salvation of the whole world.