“Grave Clothes”
November 17, 2013
John 11:38-44
“38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
I love this record of Lazarus being raised from the dead. Death is so frightening to us and this should all give us courage and faith about that event in our future. I want to encourage you to read the whole chapter this week. You ought to just ‘seep’ in this chapter. Meditate on it. It is good stuff.
Having said that – let me point out a few things that caught my eye. I want to talk to you about ‘taking off grave clothes’ but there is a few things just too good to pass up in this chapter.
The first thing is that Jesus wept – verse 35. It’s best known for being the shortest verse in the Bible. I think it is significant that it is the shortest verse. The scholar (Robert Estienne in 1551) was the one who placed the chapter and verses in the Bible and he probably made this the shortest verse on purpose. Those two words are significant. To think that the Creator of heaven and earth, our Savior and Lord, wept is awe inspiring. I believe that Jesus knew that He was going to raise Lazarus to life in just moments. But He wept. Why?
Because Mary was weeping. Jesus more than sympathizes with us – He EMPHATHISES with us. He was called ‘a Man of Sorrows’. He enters into our passion and our sorrow. What you are going through – He goes through. Why? Verse 36 tells us. “Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
Jesus loves so greatly that even knowing the finial outcome – He still weeps with us in our sorrow. Just as we weep with our children – God weeps with and for us.
Wasn’t this an awesome display of God’s love? What a tender moment. But there are always some who are so cold-hearted and negative that they find fault in anything. The problem is not the act or the event – the problem is the heart. Look how some responded to God’s love and this miraculous event.
“But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” John 11:37
Isn’t that incredible? Makes me want to just grab them and smack they up side their head. But Jesus didn’t do that. He loves. He is kind and compassionate. But look what else they did.
“45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.
“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”
49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”
51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life.” John 11:45-53
INCREDIBLE! Jesus raises someone from the dead and these spiritual leaders are so short-sighted that they ignore the implications of the miracle and plot to kill Jesus. Why? Because they were selfish and self-centered and unwise. They claimed it was for the good of the nation Jesus die, but in reality I think they did not want to lose their power and position. If Jesus could raise the dead – what did they have to fear? But their hearts and thinking was wrong
But some believed, verse 45 tells us. The majority may not believe; the leaders may not believe; the government may be all messed up – but some believed. Some put their faith in Jesus. That’s where we need to be. We need to put our faith in Jesus. We need to trust Him. We need to choose to believe Him.
The Scripture that really stood out to me as I read it this week was the 44th verse. Let’s look at it again.
The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
Can you picture this scene? It must have looked a little like some of those mummy movies. Lazarus comes out all wrapped in strips of linen. There was a cloth around his face. But He was ALIVE!
This is a metaphor of us when we come to Christ. When we are born again; when Jesus gives us new life in Him – we are like Lazarus. We are spiritually alive – but the death clothes are still wrapped around us. And Jesus tells US as He told Lazarus, “Take the grave clothes off!” Take those stinky death things off.” When we come to the Lord; when we join the Lord’s Army – we need to change. We are ‘born again’. We are new creations. We are new creatures in Christ, 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us. But we need to take the death clothes off.
Ephesians is a book written to Christians describing some of the changes we need to make. Chapter five has some great instructions for us in regard to taking off our old death nature. This chapter starts with “Live a life worthy of the calling you have received.”
You see, things have all changed for you when you joined the Lord’s Army. You are not your own. You have been bought with a price – Jesus’ blood. You are now adopted into the Family of God. You are an heir of the King. We need to live it; we need to act like the Royalty we are. We do that by making it our goal to please our commanding officer and we do that by making it our intent to become like Him. We are being transformed into His image, 2 Corinthians 3:18 says. Listen to God’s Word.
“So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.” Ephesians 4:17-19
We are no longer to be like unbelievers. Their thinking is messed up. Their minds are darkened and their hearts are hard. They are ignorant and they are separated from God. We are children of the Light. We need to act like it.
How do we do that? The Bible tells us. Notice verse 22 of Ephesians 4.
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires”
Here are your orders as soldiers of the Cross. Here are your first orders as a member of the Lord’s Army – “put off the old self”. Now I don’t know what that means to you. For me it meant I no longer went to bars – I went to church. I no longer smoked, drank or swore. God let me know right away I was to put off those things. I’m not saying YOU have to. I don’t know God’s will for you – but I know this – there are some things in your life you need to put off. You have some “stinkin’ thinking” that you need to change. You have some attitude problems and some action problems – either things you are doing or things you need to start doing. I don’t know what they may be – but Jesus does.
That brings me to the next point. Not only are we to put off some things in our lives – but we are to “PUT ON” some stuff. Listen to the Word of God.
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Ephesians 4:22-24
Do you understand that we need to continually change? We need to continually grow by putting off things in our lives and putting on new stuff? It reminds me of when I was in the army. As a private I had certain expectations of me. When I became a private first class and received a stripe to sew on my uniform – more was expected. Then I became a specialist four. More was expected of me. When I became a sergeant I was given more responsibilities and greater expectations.
It is the same with us as Christians. Have any of you achieved Christlikeness yet? NO? Then we all have some stuff to put off and some stuff to put on. Every one of us should be involved in this process. None of us have arrived. We need to have the attitude Paul had when he said this:
“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12-14
We haven’t arrived. We need to press forward and ‘strain toward the goal’. We need to forget what is behind. It’s past – that why they call it ‘the past’. All we have is this gift from God we call ‘the present’. And we need to use the present to stretch toward the goal – which is Christlikeness.
If you are not sure where to begin, Ephesians four tells us. We are to put off; lying, v.25; anger, v. 26; dishonesty, v.28, and unwholesome talk, v.29.
Let’s pause right there for a minute. Most of us have a pretty good handle on the first three mentioned. But unwholesome talk is something we all have to work on. Let’s read it again.
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29
Unwholesome talk is negative talk. It is destructive. It is harmful. It tears down. It hurts. It may be gossip. It maybe pessimistic talk. The fourfold test is 1. “is it helpful? 2. Does it build people up? 3. Does it meet the need of the one I am talking to? 4. Does it benefit those who are listening to me?”
We all need to work on what comes out of our mouths. It grieves God. How many times has Jesus wept over what we said? How many times has He shook His head; maybe been embarrassed by us? I know I have grieved Him a few times. We need to stop it. The Word goes on to say,
“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” Ephesians 4:31
Can it be any plainer? It is God’s will that you get rid of your bitterness. Bitterness is a sign you have unforgiveness in your heart. God can not forgive you if you will not forgive others. There is no place in the Body of Christ for rage and anger. No place for brawling. No place for slander. No place for malice. Get rid of it from your heart. Then God’s Word tells us what to add. It says,
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32
Just treat people like God treated you –with kindness and mercy even when you didn’t deserve it. Forgive them like God forgave you. You were a mess. You were hard and cold. But when you asked for forgiveness – you received it. Be forgiving and kind and compassionate. That’s how Jesus was. That’s how we need to be.
I want to conclude with the first verse of the next chapter. It says,
“Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children” Ephesians 5:1
Follow Jesus’ example and do what He instructed - “Take off the grave clothes”. Do you still smell of death’s stench? Do you still need to eliminate some of the ‘old you’ from your life? Jesus wept over what we have done. Let’s live in such a way as to put a smile on His face.
SONG
