John 11:38-44, Jesus Raises Lazarus

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." 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." 40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 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." 43 When he had said these things, he 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." 

Jesus proceeds to take on death in his seventh (the number of completion) miraculous sign in the Gospel of John. From his first sign of changing water into wine, Jesus is manifesting the glory of God. Now he takes this to a new level that points forward to the greater sign yet to come: his own resurrection from the dead. 

Jesus orders the stone to be removed, but Martha objects to the smell they will encounter. Jesus reminds her that what he is about to do is to bring glory to God. His prayer acknowledges that his actions are for building up the faith of those who witness this most fantastic miracle. And then as the Good Shepherd who calls his lost sheep by name, Jesus commands Lazarus out of the sheepfold of the dead and back into the land of the living. Still wearing his grave clothes, Jesus orders the people to unbind Lazarus from these symbols of death that he may rejoin the living. 

Amazingly the story moves on from here, and we do not hear from Lazarus and his experience of death. While I wish John had interviewed him and recorded it, that is not what God wants us to know. Instead, he wants us to know that Jesus has power over death, that Jesus can bring forth the dead as Ezekiel saw in his vision of the valley of dry bones, that Jesus, the Father, and the Spirit are united in the mission to undo the effects of the fall and open the gates of Paradise to the people of God. 

One last note: Jesus does not ask Lazarus if he wants to return. Jesus does not give him a choice in the matter. Jesus simply orders him to “come out.” Jesus initiates life where there is death. Jesus commands those who are his. Lazarus, by all accounts, simply obeys because Jesus is in total control of his life. He knows the voice of the Good Shepherd and follows him. 

Jesus’ prayer to the Father is a good example for us to follow. First, he calls God “Father” as he teaches us we all should. Second, he reminds us that the Father “always hears him.” And third, we see how God is alert to what we have to say to him. Spend time in prayer with the Father today and model your prayer after Jesus’.