Daily Dose of the Word of God - John 11: 43-44

Gregg DeMey, Lead Pastor

Transcript

Gregg DeMey  0:07  

Good morning friends and welcome to Elmhurst CRC's Daily Dose of the Word of God. It's Thursday, March 20th and this is Gregg DeMay, Lead Pastor at the church. It is the season of Lent and we are journeying with Jesus for Jerusalem and the cross, diving deep into the Gospel of John, chapters 11 through 13. Today's reading is just a couple of short verses from John 11 - verses 43 and 44.

Gregg DeMey  0:31  

When Jesus had said this, he shouted in a loud voice, "Lazarus come out!" And the one who had died came out. His feet and hands tied up with strips of cloth and a cloth wrapped around his face. And then Jesus said to them, "unwrap him and let him go."

Gregg DeMey  0:53  

There are three important details from these incredible action-packed miraculous verses. The first detail is Jesus shouting, "Lazarus come out!" I often think of Jesus as downplaying his divinity or power and authority. There's quite a few scenes early in the Gospels where Jesus asked people to keep the news of his deeds or his messianic identity on the down low (even a secret). But those days are done and here at the graveside of his friend, Jesus shouts with all the authority of a hell defeating heaven. As Jesus said, "Against the good news, the gates of hell will not prevail. The tomb doesn't stand a chance." Can you think of another time (maybe soon) when a mighty voice will call forth another man from another cave that was a tomb with another stone that was rolled in front of it?

Gregg DeMey  1:52  

The second detail of note. I love the description of Lazarus as, "the one who had died." Yep, it had been four days. Lazarus was gone, but not anymore. Death no longer had a grip on him. I would be very curious to know Lazarus thoughts as he walked out of that tomb, probably looking like a mummy with his arms, legs and face wrapped up in strips of cloth. Maybe what was in his mind was like in that old movie, Field of Dreams. If you saw it, when long since dead baseball players return to play and ask, "Is this heaven?" They look around at the corn, and somebody says, "No, it's just Iowa." Perhaps Lazarus asked the same thing - "Is this heaven?" Can you think of another time coming soon when death would lose its cold grip on another one of his victims?

Gregg DeMey 2:57

 
Lastly, notice Jesus directions regarding Lazarus now that he's back. "Unwrap him!" Jesus says, "and let him go." Now that he's back, Jesus instructs that Lazarus be set free. This is what Jesus does and what he's desiring to do for all of us - even today - for the power of death and destruction to work in reverse, and then to unwrap us, untie us and set us free. How does that sound?

Gregg DeMey  3:25  

Let's pray. Jesus, your voice is so powerful. You are the Lord of history, heaven and earth. Won't you speak over the sin, sick, unhealthy parts of us today too.Say over us, "come out." Yes Lord, say over us, "unwrap them and let them live free." Yes indeed Lord, amen.