38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days. 40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 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.”

Imagine having buried a loved one, had a visitation service, the funeral, and the burial. Then Jesus comes to your home and asks if you would take him to where your loved one was buried. You travel to the cemetery and the freshly filled grave. Jesus commands that the casket be removed from the ground and opened!  What would you think? Then Jesus calls your loved one by name and they sit up and get out of the casket and go home with you to live many more years of life. 

There are two other occasions in the New Testament where Jesus brought someone back to life, The widow's son from Nain and the daughter of Jairus.  In the first two accounts there was very little fanfare.  Jesus spoke simply and it was done, but this situation is different. This leads us to the conclusion that this was more than a story about a dead guy coming back to life.

The first thing Jesus does to demonstrate His power is to go to His Father in prayer. There is no power in our lives without prayer. He prayed that the people might see God's glory.  The fact that Lazarus had been dead four days gave greater authenticity to the miracle to be performed and greater opportunity for the people to believe, including His own disciples.  Jesus recognized it is for them that God is answering this prayer. It is for you and me as well. Jesus made it possible that death not overcome us. For all of us who trust and believe in Him and follow Him know that someday He will stand before our grave and then shout this victory cry, "Come forth." and we will all rise before our Lord and King and give Him praise.

Jesus performed a mighty miracle in raising Lazarus from the dead but also notice He did not take away the stone from the door of the sepulcher, nor did He remove the grave clothes when His resurrected friend came out of the tomb, “bound hand and foot." The Lord demanded something from those who longed for a miracle.

I do not believe God's way of working is to roll away the stone from the problems in your life, if the solution is within your own ability and letting Him work through you to accomplish what should be done in a normal and natural way.  That is the way God designed His world to begin with. Did Jesus have to ask for the people to roll the stone away?  No. He could have spoken and saw to it that it was done. The Angel rolled the stone away for His own resurrection. He used God's people to help roll away stones and take off grave clothes for new  Christians called to serve in this new life. Someone might be saved but still bound by stones of blindness and ignorance. There are many we can help by untying them, freeing them from the bondages of legalism, culture, liberalism, prejudice, fear, hatred, anger and other things that bind.

Jesus real miracle isn't to bring us back to this life. Lazarus later had another burial. He died, but only with the hope that the stone will be rolled away for good when Christ returns. Lazarus was raised from the dead by the power of God, and all who trust Christ have been given new life and lifted out of the graveyard of sin. Lazarus was set free from the grave clothes and given new liberty. You find him seated with Jesus at the table later in the next chapter. All believers will be seated with Christ in the heavenly places (Eph 2:6) enjoying spiritual food and fellowship.

O Lord, bring to life that which is dead around us and in us. Amen

Dale