Invited to come out from the tomb

“Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’” Come out of the tomb. Come out of the darkness. Come out of the stench. Come out of death. “Lazarus, come out!”

Since Jesus’ words are efficacious, the man, formerly dead, was brought back to life and came out, still tied hand and foot with burial bands and his face wrapped in a cloth.

Jesus has done the heavy lifting. Jesus has rolled away the stone for us. But we still must come out. We have to leave the familiar comfort of our tomb. In addition, Jesus invites others to help Lazarus become fully unbound. Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.” The theme for this Lenten weekend could be, “Untie him and let him go.”

In this Gospel account, the writer, John, tells of one of the most spectacular examples of Jesus’ liberation: his releasing Lazarus from the grip of natural death. But the deeper level from which Christ speaks is another kind of life that is foretold; a life that is more spectacular, and a more freeing experience, that would soon follow, when Jesus dies on the cross and rises from the dead.