Dead Men Walking

John 11:32-44 (NLT) 11:32 When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. 34 “Where have you put him?” he asked them. They told him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Then Jesus wept. 36 The people who were standing nearby said, “See how much he loved him!” 37 But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?” 38 Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. 39 “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.” 40 Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” 41 So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. 42 You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” 43 Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”

This passage of scripture gives a number of lessons to us today. First, Look at how Jesus is connected to us. When He saw the people grieving over Lazarus – He also grieved and wept with them. Jesus is not detached from our hurts, disappointments and needs. He understands the grief we experience in life through death or loss in our lives. Secondly, notice this about the story… He shouts for Lazarus to come out of the grave. He comes, walking out the grave but he still had his burial clothes on. Jesus commands the people to “unwrap him and let him go.” Remember, he had probably been the grave for a while. He probably smelled – really bad. He probably didn’t look all that great either. People come into our lives with all their grave cloths on. They smell of sin and the world and God commands each of us to take their grave cloths off. It’s not always pretty and its not something that everyone wants to do. It’s what pleases the Lord. I was one of those persons walking with grave cloths on. Someone lovingly, obediently reached over and helped me step out of them. It is now my responsibility to help others step out of their grave cloths and become the person that God wants them to be.