Sub-Total: $0.00
Lazarus, Come Forth!
-by Kristen Curtis
I am often called to serve as a chaplain for people during great loss – the devastation of a natural disaster, the loss of a loved one, or in a health crisis. If you have lived long enough, you’ve probably faced moments where something or someone deeply important to you was lost or broken, or you’ve walked alongside someone in their own moment of loss. In those moments, many of us ask, “Does God care about the things that are important to me?”
This very question is woven through the story of Lazarus in John 11: 1-45. Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, was extremely sick. So much so, that his sisters sent word to Jesus, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” Knowing Jesus as they did, I have no doubt they expected him to come quickly and heal Lazarus. But verses 5 and 6 reveal something surprising: “5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.” Jesus loved them, “SO. . .” he DIDN’T come right away?!?! What?!?!? BECAUSE he loved them, he let a horrible thing happen????? Why would Jesus allow them to suffer like that?
Verse 4 gives us a clue, “4. . . 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.’” Jesus knew the end of the story. He had a plan to redeem their suffering. Sometimes, love allows hardship because it leads to a greater purpose – a revelation of God’s glory and a deeper understanding of who he is and how he loves us. He had a plan to bless them, and SO he allowed this pain to bring glory to God.
When Jesus finally arrived, Lazarus had died. Both sisters approach Jesus in their grief and say, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” . . . .” Jesus didn’t dismiss their grief. Verse 33 tells us “he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. . . . 35 Jesus wept.”
The people around Jesus interpreted his tears as grief. “See how he loved him!” they said in verse 36. But I don’t think it was grief. Jesus knew that he was going to raise Lazarus. He knew he was going to witness joy and celebration within the hour. And yet he wept. He met Mary in her grief, and he cried with her. He took time to be with her where she was, to listen, and to validate her pain. He didn’t downplay it or brush it off simply because he knew what was coming. Every time we encounter hurting people, we have the opportunity to do the same.
38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” . . . . 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus . . . cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 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.”
I love this part of the story! Jesus didn’t simply call Lazarus from the grave and bring him back to life. HE INVOLVED THE PEOPLE AROUND HIM in the process. Look again at verses 38 & 39. He told the people to move the stone blocking the grave. He used those who had come to mourn with Mary and Martha as part of the process of giving Lazarus back to his sisters!
But Jesus wasn’t quite done with Lazarus or his community once Lazarus came out of the tomb. You see, Lazarus was alive, but he wasn’t yet free. He was still wrapped in the grave clothes. Jesus asked the community standing near the grave to unbind Lazarus. He could have done it differently. He could have raised him and left the grave clothes behind (that’s how Jesus was raised at Easter, after all). But he chose to ask people to be part of setting Lazarus free from the bondage death caused.
He wants us to do the same. Every time we rebuild a home after a storm, we help move stones. When we partner with communities through ministries like Food for the Hungry, we help remove grave clothes. When we sit with someone in their grief, bring a meal, or offer a compassionate listening ear, sharing the love of Jesus through our actions, we become part of God’s redemptive work – part of bringing hope into pain, light into darkness, and life into places that feel dead.
Jesus still calls people forth from the grave, and he is still inviting us to help unbind them.