SWHW Two Year Bible Reading Plan: March, Year 2Sample

Top Takeaway from Lauren Diggs:

“When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out.’ The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.”’ John 11:43-44

I think we can agree that this is one of Jesus’ most significant miracles. Not that they weren’t all significant, but can you imagine seeing someone walk out of a tomb that had been dead for four days?! 

That’s right, four days. And following Jewish burial customs, the body of Lazarus had been wrapped in graveclothes covered with various spices to mask the smell of decay and was then placed in the tomb. But then, Jesus arrives on the scene and shouts, “Lazarus, come out.” (John 11:43) and Lazarus walks out of the tomb! I mean, we could stop right here because that alone is a mic-drop moment. 

But, if we keep reading we see that Lazarus was still bound in the graveclothes he’d been buried in (picture Egyptian mummy-like wrappings) and Jesus tells those who were with him to “Unbind him, and let him go.” (John 11:44) 

Lazarus had been resurrected from the dead. He’d been given life again. Sound familiar? That’s because it is. We were once dead, but through the death and resurrection of Jesus, we have been given the newness of life (Romans 6:4).

So, if newness of life in Christ is what we have, why is Lazarus still bound in his graveclothes and Jesus instructing their removal significant? Because this shows us that we can have salvation through Jesus and still live bound in our graveclothes--insecurities, habitual sins, our past, fear, anxiety, and unforgiveness, just to name a few. 

Basically, anything that is keeping us from walking freely in the purpose of God in our lives. 

Charles Spurgeon put it beautifully in one of his sermons on this very passage: 

“The man was wholly raised, but not wholly freed.” 

For years I walked around bound by insecurities, fear, and anxiety. I loved Jesus with my whole heart, ministered in His name, and proclaimed His freedom. But I was still wearing the graveclothes from my past. I wasn’t living wholly freed to walk in the purpose God had called me to. It wasn’t until I allowed Jesus to unbind me from my graveclothes that I was able to walk freely in His purpose. 

We have a real and present enemy that would love nothing more than for us to stay bound in our graveclothes, not walking in the freedom and purpose of God. But Jesus not only came to bring us out of darkness and give us new life, He also came to “burst their bonds apart” (Psalm 107:14). He desires for us to be set free from what binds us, and in Him, we can be. What the enemy meant to keep us bound in, Jesus came to bring us out of. 

Sweet friend, what graveclothes do you need Jesus to unbind today? You have been wholly raised, but are you walking around not wholly freed? Allow God to unbind you so you can freely move in His purpose and plan for your life. 

Dear Lord, thank You that Your Son came so we could not only live eternally with You, but so we could be set free from the things that bind us. Set us free from what keeps us bound so we can walk freely in the purpose You have set before us. We love You, Amen.