In the Life of Christ
“Jesus called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.” — John 11:43–44
When I walk with Jesus toward the tomb of Lazarus, I am struck by how honestly John describes the scene. The air is heavy with grief. Martha is thinking about the physical reality of a body that has been buried for four days. The mourners are questioning why the One who opened blind eyes did not prevent this death. Jesus Himself is deeply moved. Nothing about this moment feels distant, polished, or painless.
Lazarus had been placed in a cave-like tomb cut into the limestone, with a heavy stone closing its entrance. Such tombs could hold several family members. The stone separated the living from the dead and confirmed that the time for earthly hope appeared to have ended.
Yet Jesus did not approach the tomb as a helpless observer. John uses the Greek verb embrimaomai to describe Jesus as “deeply moved.” The word can convey indignation or anger, suggesting that Jesus was not merely grieving with the mourners; He was confronting death as an enemy. John Calvin pictured the moment vividly: “Christ does not come to the sepulchre as an idle spectator, but like a wrestler preparing for the contest.” The IVP New Testament Commentary explains that Jesus stood before death as the divine Life-Giver, already beginning the conflict that would lead to His own death and decisive victory over the grave.
Jesus commanded, “Take away the stone.” Martha immediately objected. She was not being unreasonable. She knew what four days in a tomb meant. Her response reminds me that faith often stands between Christ’s promise and the painful evidence directly before us. We know what Jesus has said, but we also know what disappointment smells like. We have prayed beside hospital beds, stood near graves, and watched situations deteriorate beyond anything we could repair.
Jesus answered Martha, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” Faith did not require Martha to deny that Lazarus was dead. It asked her to believe that death did not possess greater authority than Jesus.
After the stone was removed, Jesus prayed publicly to His Father. His prayer was not an uncertain request but an expression of thanksgiving: “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.” Commentator Marcus Dods described it as “simple words of thanksgiving, as if Lazarus had already returned.” This prayer revealed the communion between the Father and the Son and helped those watching understand that Jesus had been sent by God. The commentary at Enduring Word notes that Jesus’ public confidence rested upon His continuing relationship with the Father.
Then Jesus cried, “Lazarus, come out!” He did not use an elaborate ritual. He called Lazarus by name, and the dead man obeyed. The voice that had spoken creation into being now reached into a tomb and summoned life from death.
Lazarus returned to ordinary mortal life and would eventually die again. Jesus’ later resurrection would be different: Christ rose never to die again, leaving His graveclothes behind. Lazarus emerged still wrapped in burial cloths, but the risen Christ walked out of His tomb in everlasting victory. The raising of Lazarus was a sign pointing beyond itself to Jesus as “the resurrection and the life.”
When Lazarus appeared, Jesus told those nearby, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” Jesus alone could restore life, but He allowed others to participate in Lazarus’s freedom. That speaks to our ministry with one another. We cannot give spiritual life or conquer death, but we can help remove the remnants of someone’s former captivity. We can offer patient friendship, truthful encouragement, prayerful support, and practical care as people learn to walk in the new life Christ gives.
This passage does not promise that every earthly tragedy will immediately be reversed. Lazarus’s sisters still endured four days of grief, and every generation since has continued to bury loved ones. The promise is greater than temporary escape: death will not have the final word over anyone who belongs to Christ. Because Jesus lives, our tragedies are held within a larger story moving toward resurrection, reunion, healing, and glory.
John 11:37–44 teaches that Jesus is emotionally present in human grief, sovereign over death, and worthy of faith even when His timing puzzles us. At Lazarus’s tomb, Christ revealed that no grave is beyond His voice and no believer is beyond His promise of resurrection life.
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