John 11:32-44 (NRSV)
Read John 11:32-44 on biblegateway.com
Verse 32When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
Verse 33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. Verse 34He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." Verse 35Jesus began to weep. Verse 36So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" Verse 37But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?" Verse 38Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Verse 39Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days." Verse 40Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" Verse 41So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me. Verse 42I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me." Verse 43When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" Verse 44The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
Devotion
Our children range in age from 3 to 10. I am regularly surprised when I ask them to do something and they actually do it! They’re good kids, but for some reason I anticipate resistance.
Imagine, however, the surprise of those around Lazarus’ tomb that day when Jesus’ command brought a dead man back to life. No shock paddles, no CPR, just a command: “Lazarus, come out!”
I imagine that is how it will be on the last day, when the Son of Man announces the resurrection of the saints. Jesus, in divine glory, will call out to the departed, “Come out!” And they will! The earth will shake at the sight of it and all those who doubted the resurrection will finally be convinced.
May we be among those for whom that awesome day will bring the joy of a promise kept.
Prayer
Lord, comfort those who mourn with the sure hope of the resurrection, and keep your church united in one holy communion until the day of Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.