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In John 11, Lazarus had been dead for four days when Jesus arrived in Bethany. Lazarus’s tomb is a cave with a huge rock pushed up against the opening to keep the stench in and the animals out.
Where others saw only decay and finality, Jesus saw opportunity for creation. In the face of everyone else’s disbelief, Jesus loudly called forth life: “Lazarus, come out!” (John 11:43), and Lazarus did. As Lazarus comes out of the tomb, Jesus commands all those present to peel off the grave cloths that cover him.
How might we see our own faces in the story of Lazarus? Are we trapped in a rock, unable or unwilling to move? Do we hear the voice of Jesus calling us out of the darkness and into new life? Or are we like the mourners gathering outside the tomb, ready to help “unbind” others as they begin anew? One gift Christ gave to all believers is the capacity to act as little Christs to one another, reminding one another “For freedom Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1). We are freed to imitate our Creator in our own acts of freeing and creating.
This message is excerpted from “Made in the image of a creative God” by Susan Schneider in the January 2023 Café online magazine. Today is the Fifth Sunday in Lent. Today we commemorate Jonathan Edwards, teacher, missionary to American Indians, 1758.