Lazarus, Come Out!

43 …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. John 11: 43-44

This is one of those Jesus moments in Scripture when I totally get covered in goosebumps! Wow! The majestic power of the Word in action right in front of the world to see! Praised be His Name, the Name above all names!

Our Jesus is certainly in the business of bringing dead people back to life! At the sound of His voice, the stones quake and the dead rise!

I can’t help but to imagine what Martha must have felt at this moment. For a woman whose entire life revolves around action, this must have been the ultimate instance of the insanity of movement. There is no record of anyone saying anything…that’s probably because even Ms.-I-always-have-something-to-say Martha was speechless. I mean, really, what could anyone possibly say here? The only thing left to do is to fall on one’s knees and worship the One and Only, Jesus the Christ!

But let’s just take a quick look at something here before we fall flat on our faces. See what the Lord did? “Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”’

Yes, He speaks and things happens. The creative power of the Word is in display in this event. But, what does He actually say?

There is no incantation being pronounced. There are no magic words being said. There isn’t any mysterious formula being spoken. Jesus simply calls out his friend’s name in a loud voice and commands him to get out of the tomb. That’s all…

And Lazarus does it.

The man that had been dead and buried for 4 days because Jesus had the audacity of not being there to prevent him from dying, now walks out of the tomb on his own two feet as if waking up from a long nap, still dragging his sheets around.

That is the story of our lives. He may as well be saying: "Gisela, come out!"

As we walk alongside with Christ, often, we fall behind, get trapped in a hole, fall into a pit, get tangled in webs of deceit, get lost in the darkness of this world. We are left for dead. We drag the sheets that wrap the old self and sleep-walk through precious days that won’t come back, without the power of freeing ourselves from the chains that bind us to the circumstances that enslave us.

We know Our Heavenly Father wants us to live the abundant life, but we don’t know how to get it. And that is because in order for us to be free, Christ has to first, call us! We cannot resurrect ourselves. He has to say the word, and we shall be healed. He has to call us by our name, and then we will hear. He has to command us to get out of the entrapment we are in, and then, we will be free.

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

How unsearchable his judgments,

and his paths beyond tracing out!

34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord?

Or who has been his counselor?”

35 “Who has ever given to God,

that God should repay them?”

36 For from him and through him and for him are all things.

To him be the glory forever! Amen. Romans 11: 33-36

Let us now fall face down on the floor and worship His Holy Name!