Rise Up Like Lazarus

John 11:43
When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!

It is impossible to rise up in power and purpose when we are living in our garments of death. Those garments of death are saturated with the stench of sin and keep us captive to an old life. They are not meant for us to wear. They were never meant for us to live in. God is telling us to take off our garments of death.

Even in the waiting, God has a plan

A large stone sealed off the cave where Lazarus dead body lay. With great intention and purpose, he had been in there for four long days. He had succumbed to a progressive illness that quickly took his life. And now, Lazarus was gone.

All he had needed was a touch. And by this time in Jesus’ ministry even the disciples could have performed such a miracle. From afar, he could have spoken healing into existence. After all, he had already done that with the Centurion. Why not a repeat performance? God’s glory is a beautiful and mysterious wonder. But it often comes by way of suffering.

Jesus is always on time. He is never early, and He is never late He is intentional with his arrival, knowing exactly what needs to get done and when. Four days late by our standards is right on time through that Kingdom lens. Four days late offers the ultimate glory of Jesus to be seen and experienced by all in need.

Jesus commanded for the stone to be rolled away. What a scene that must have been.

Jesus Calls You Out—But You Must Leave the Grave Clothes Behind

“When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus *said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

It was time for Lazarus to rise up. Death had lost all power at the sound of His voice. He immediately commanded Lazarus to take off the grave clothes. For it was those very clothes that tethered Lazarus to sickness and death. It was those very close that wreaked a life of decay. Jesus had come to free him from all bondage. As Lazarus walked out of that dark cave into the bright light of life, everything had to be left behind. And so, he took off his garments of death and walked towards Jesus.

Many of us are weighted down by the very things that have been nailed to the cross. Somehow, they have crept back into our soul. Once again, we find we have been taken captive. Maybe it is a past that haunts us. Maybe a besetting sin that just won’t die. Maybe it is a battle, a struggle so intense that we seldom experience the light He called in to live. Fear, doubt, anxiety, depression are smelly clothes that enslave, preventing us from the fullness of God. These garments of bondage don’t belong to us, they have been nailed to the cross. These garments are no longer ours to wear.