Martha and Mary led Jesus to Lazarus’ tomb. A crowd of family, friends, and neighbors followed Mary from the house to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance.
“Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them.
But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.”
John 11:40-43 continues:
Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?”
So, they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me. But I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe that you sent me.”
Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!”
Lazarus hobbled out of the tomb. John 11:44
"And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him and let him go.”'
Lazarus was alive after being dead for four days, but he was not yet free. The smell of death was still on him, and he was bound hand and foot with strips of linen coated with spices.
I want you to see this. Bethany was a small village. They probably all knew Lazarus. His neighbors, friends, and family unwrapped the grave clothes to finally set Lazarus free. Jesus didn’t do it. His disciples didn’t do it. The community Lazarus lived in loosed him and set him free from the death clothes wrapped around him.
At some point, I’m sure Lazarus helped unwrap himself. But he needed help. When we’re born again, we’re like Lazarus. Sin is death. Sin wraps around us again and again. It leaves us, as the scripture says, bound hand and foot.
Many scriptures describe mankind as slaves to sin. For example:
John 8:34, 2 Peter 2:19
Christians are made alive with Christ’s love and forgiveness when we’re born again. But we need help to break free from the grave clothes wrapped around us again and again by a lifetime of selfishness and sin.
Many Christians accept Jesus as Savior, but never get rid of their grave clothes. They’re hobbled by their grave clothes all their lives. Instead of the sweet fragrance of Jesus, these people have the stench of death on them. They’re bound hand and foot by old attitudes, old soul wounds, old relationships, old ideas, and beliefs from their past. They never break free from the influences of their sin, even though their sin has been removed and forgiven.
God knew we’d never be able to remove a lifetime of sin and selfishness by ourselves. He gave us the Holy Spirit living inside us to guide us and to empower us. And God made us part of His body here on the earth—His congregation of believers. God uses other people in this process of healing and restoring all that has been stolen from you by Satan, your selfishness, and your sin.
Recognize that you have grave clothes. We all do. And commit to take off those grave clothes.