Finishing up on the story of Lazarus today...
Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. "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."
Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?"
So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 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."
When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" 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." John 11:38 - 44 (NIV)
Sometimes there is just so much in one little detail.
When Lazarus came out of the tomb he was wrapped in grave clothes. Although he was alive, he was still bound at his hands and feet.
But notice whom Jesus tells to free him at this point.
"Take off the grave clothes and let him go."
When we are born from above, we pass over from death to life, just like Lazarus. Often we come out of our own tombs bound by the remnants of our past. Jesus gives us life, but we are also meant to help each other to walk away from our old lives and live in freedom.
"From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." Ephesians 4:16 (NIV)
