“Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a
cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha,
the sister of the dead man, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be an
odor, for He has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you
that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the
stone. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you
have heard Me. I knew that you always hear Me, but I said this on account of
the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent Me.” When He
had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The
man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his
face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.””
(John 11:38–44, ESV)
Hosea wrote about the judgment of Israel, how they were
afflicted in numerous ways because of their rebellion. But he also wrote about
the redemption that was to come to this people and this nation. Paul quoted
Hosea in 1 Corinthians 15, which is an entire chapter on the resurrection. He
wrote in verses 53-57, “For this perishable body must put on the imperishable,
and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the
imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the
saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is
your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the
power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:53–57, ESV)
In the middle of this incredible statement regarding the
power of death being removed through being given life and immortality as we
pass from death to life, He used the words of Hosea, “O death, where is your
victory? O death, where is your sting?” These people had gathered to mourn the
loss of Lazarus, and for most of them all they saw was the power of death. For
them Lazarus had lost the battle for life to death through illness. To them
death had won. But Jesus knew different. He was about to show them in a very
visible and tangible way that death did not have to be the winner. There is
victory over death. Though the religious elite had argued over the reality of a
resurrection, and Martha had proclaimed her belief in the resurrection, none of
them could really comprehend just how real and present the power of the
resurrection really was. Even as Jesus had spoken of His own leaving, none of
them grasped yet what it was He was talking about.
Jesus still being moved by the intensity of the situation
approached Lazarus’ tomb, and rather than kneeling with them outside to the
tomb to join in their mourning and continued weeping Jesus took action. He
said, “Take away the stone.” This was an unheard of thing. Lazarus was dead,
and as Martha said everyone and else knew the process of death had begun its
decay. Four days later they knew that Lazarus was in no condition to be seen.
The stench of his rotting would be overwhelming. None of them had the desire to
move away the stone and open the cave for the reality of death to fill their
senses.
It was in response to this that Jesus said, “Did I not tell
you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” Did He not tell them
that He was going to show them so amazing that they would know that it could be
from none other than God Himself? Had He not told them that what He was about
to do before them would loudly declare the glory of God? Jesus had told His
disciples when they questioned His deciding to go see Lazarus after his death,
“Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that
you may believe. But let us go to him.” (John 11:14–15, ESV) Jesus asked Martha
if she believed in John 11:26. Having reminded them of His words that they
would see the glory of God, He was now ready to do the most amazing thing ever
seen by man.
But before doing this, and in front of all who gathered,
Jesus prayed. All along Jesus had said that He did not come to be glorified in
His works, but to bring glory to the Father such that they knew He truly was
sent by the Father to do the will of the Father. And even now as we read His
prayer we see this clearly forefront in His mind. He prayed, “Father, I thank
you that you have heard Me. I knew that you always hear Me, but I said this on
account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent Me.”
Before doing this last and most amazing work, Jesus prayed with the full
assurance that He was heard as He always was heart from the beginning and
because of that He could pray with confidence knowing that the request He made
would be answered. He even said in His prayer that the reason for praying this
way was not to bolster up His own faith, but rather to demonstrate to others
the reality that He indeed was sent by the Father. Just before doing what He
was going to do, He took the time to point people to the One who sent Him to do
it.
Having now prayed, Jesus said in a very loud voice—a voice
that clearly would be heard by all and even shake (I imagine) the foundations
of all that existed—“Lazarus, come forth.” (John 11:43, NAS95) He did not need
to be so loud for Lazarus to respond, but with this great act Jesus
demonstrated in an unquestionable way the greatest authority—the power over
death. Death would have no hold on Lazarus and would not prevent God from
giving life to whomever He chose.
Again, imagine the scene…. The next thing the people saw was
a man bound in burial linens walked out of the tomb. Bound hand and foot, his
face wrapped like the images we see of mummies in our movies, Lazarus comes out
of the tomb—ALIVE. He was not the image of the walking dead. No. He was one was
dead who is now alive. Death no longer had a hold on him. To this Jesus said, “Unbind
him, and let him go.”
I love these last words—“Unbind him, and let him go.” When
God gives life there is no power which can restrain anyone. When we are set
free we are free indeed. Back in chapter 8, Jesus said, “So if the Son sets you
free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36, ESV) Just as Jesus had demonstrated
to this gathered crowd the power of God to set people free from death, we know
that all who have placed their trust in Him likewise have been set free from
the power of death and firmly placed into life.
This miracle was the last one recorded that
Jesus was to demonstrate prior to His own death, burial, and resurrection.
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