Lazarus, Part 8 - Take off the Grave Clothes
John 11v44b
9th December 2022
Lazarus had died for four days ago, and was laid in his grave, a cave with a stone across its entrance. Jesus told the people to remove the stone, and then called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" Lazarus came out of his grave, with his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. It was a remarkable miracle.
But because Lazarus's body was bound with strips of linen, he could only walk with difficulty, if at all, and he couldn't see where he was going. He obeyed the voice of the King of Kings who had resurrected him, and, I expect, moved towards Jesus's voice.
Jesus had brought Lazarus back from the dead, but he wasn't free. The grave clothes kept him bound. Jesus wanted him to be able to live a full life. So,
John 11v44b
Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."
There is a clear implication for us in this. We were once dead in our sins (Ephesians 2v1) but God has made us spiritually alive (Ephesians 2v4). We have been born again (John 3v3, 7, 1 Peter 1v23). We are alive for ever with Jesus. This, I believe, is what Revelation 20v5 calls "the first resurrection". Now we have been made raised from spiritual death and made alive in Christ, God wants us to be free of our grave clothes, of all the things that restricted us like the burial strips of linen that bound Lazarus.
But Jesus didn't tell Lazarus to take off his grave clothes; he told the other people there to do it. In the same way, it's the job of the church to help believers to find all the freedom that Christ has won for them. Part of this process of getting free occurs at baptism:
Romans 6v4
We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that,
just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we
too may live a new life.
Baptism is a burial service for the person we used to be. We bury the old person so we're free to be the new person God intends. Baptism is a sacrament and a means of grace. When a born-again believer in Jesus is baptised, God will meet with Him in the waters of baptism and work to free him from fear, negativity, doubt, sin habits and bad thought patterns. But we can't baptise ourselves. We need the church - other believers - to baptise us.
And baptism don't finish the job of setting us free. We will continue to change and to experience more freedom over time. And we need the church to help with that as well. We're told:
Hebrews 12v1
… let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily
entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Ephesians 4v22-24
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old
self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
to be made new in the attitude of your minds;
and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and
holiness.
Every Christian, especially every new Christian, but actually every one of us, needs other Christians to help us to get the old grave clothes off. We need our pastors and preachers, our prophets and worship leaders. We need our brothers and sisters in Christ. We need each others' prayers, encouragement, advice, forgiveness, wisdom, patience and love. We need each others' friendship.
If another Christian is behaving like a non-believer, if he's still caught in the thought patterns and sin habits that bound him before he was born again, he needs your help, not your condemnation.
And if you know you're still held back by some sin or negativity, go to a trusted brother or sister in Christ, admit your weakness, and ask for help. You're not unique. We all need to do this sometimes.
For anybody who may need to remember this verse right now, may I remind you:
James 5v16
... confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be
healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.