Over the years, Reader’s Digest has printed many quirky items from the daily lives of ordinary people. Many of these items are quite amusing.  For example, Jennifer Pace wrote in a few years ago to tell about a billboard she passed while driving through Texas . The billboard read: “Stand Up and Be Counted for the 2000 Census.” The sign was sponsored by the Rosewood Cemetery .  1

Another woman wrote in with a funny excuse she heard from a co-worker.  The man explained his absence from work by saying, “I’m having an autopsy. But with any luck I’ll be in tomorrow."  2

That would be quite a trick!  Of course, evangelist Oral Roberts claimed one time that he had raised people from the dead in his ministry. But when pressured by the news media, he fudged a bit on the claims.  As scholar R. C. Sproul notes, it is one thing for people to be revived through CPR or other forms of resuscitation.  It’s quite another for a person to be decomposing in the grave for four days and be brought back to life as Lazarus was by the divine command of Jesus.  3

When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him.  “Lord,” she said, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Then adds, “But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” We see here that Martha was a person of extraordinary faith.

Those of you who remember the story of Mary and Martha as told in Luke 10 remember that it was Mary who sat at the feet of Jesus while Martha scurried around doing household chores. Jesus chided Martha and praised Mary. Yet in this story of the raising of their brother Lazarus Jesus seems to indicate that Martha had the more mature faith.

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”  Martha responded, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God.”  And after she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary.

Scripture tells us that Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.  When Mary reached that place, she fell at his feet and said the same thing Martha said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

When Jesus saw her weeping, and those who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked.   “Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

Then scripture says, Jesus wept. We love that verse, don’t we? It saved many of us when we were young and had to memorize a Bible verse. “Jesus wept”--the shortest verse in the Bible.  But it’s also one of the most powerful. Jesus wept. Real tears, just like we cry when we are hurting. To know that Jesus cares, that he enters into our pain and feels our suffering is at the heart of our faith.

Jesus, deeply moved, came to the tomb, a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said. Another powerful sentence. “Take away the stone.”

Kendall Link frequently preaches at a county jail, claims that the most effective Bible passage he preaches on is the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the grave. He says the prisoners find hope in “the idea that you don’t have to stay the way you are, the idea that the stone will be rolled away and they can step out into new life . . .”  4

“Take away the stone,” Jesus said.  So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 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.”   When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”

I love the comment I once heard about this passage, “If Jesus hadn’t limited that command to Lazarus, every corpse in the graveyard would have come forth!”

Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” And 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, let him go.”

What an amazing story. After four days in the tomb, Jesus raised a dead man from the grave. But here’s the important thing for this day: Do we understand that this is our story, yours and mine? We’re not the bystanders. We are not Mary and Martha. We’re Lazarus, and you and I are called to new life. “Lazarus, come out!” There are some important lessons we need to learn from the story of Lazarus.

First of all this story affirms the idea of resurrection. That’s important, of course. You and I have this to look forward to. We will live beyond the grave with Christ and with those we have loved.

Dr. A. L. Jenkins was an emergency-room doctor for 48 years in Knoxville , Tennessee . In this capacity, Dr. Jenkins saw the best and worst side of the field of medicine. But his most vivid memories are of those moments that are medically unexplainable.

Dr. Jenkins recalls one man who was dead on arrival in the emergency room. It was policy to attempt resuscitation anyway. After fifteen minutes of CPR, the previously dead man began to show signs of life. The man sat up, looked around him, then said to Dr. Jenkins, “Oh, I wish I was still out there! It was beautiful!”

The man would never explain what he meant, but would only repeat that the place where he had been was “so beautiful, so beautiful."  5

Now, many explanations have been given for near-death experiences, including chemical changes in the brain. But, all explanations aside, I find it amazing how these experiences affirm what the Bible teaches about life beyond the grave.

There will come a time when the doctor can do no more for us, but somewhere on the other side, Christ will say, “Mike, come out!” “Joe, come out!” “Sally, come out!” This is a story that affirms resurrection.

It is also a story, though, that gives us hope for everyday living. It’s a word of encouragement for anyone who needs to make a new beginning in life.

Robert McAfee Brown was a chaplain in World War II. He was on a troop ship with 1,500 Marines on their way home after having served in Japan . To his surprise, he was approached by a group of Marines asking him to lead a Bible study during the voyage.

One day, after the group had studied the passage about the raising of Lazarus, a Marine came to Dr. Brown saying, “The story is about me!” The young man had gotten into a lot of trouble before going into the service. He could not stand the thought of facing his family. The story of Lazarus gave him hope and courage to face the consequences back home. He had been “turned loose, untied."  6 

Christ rolled away the stone of his life.  That’s what Christ does for us. He gives us the power to start again, to live again. He said to Lazarus, “Lazarus, come out!” Then to those who were present, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

The story of Lazarus can be our story. We, too, can be turned loose, untied. This is particularly good news to someone who is addicted, whether to a chemical substance or to unsavory habits.

“Lazarus, come out!” This is good news for the person who has lived an empty, meaningless life.

“Lazarus, come out!” This is good new for the tired, the hurting, the person at their wit’s end.

“Lazarus, come out!” This is good news for all of us as it marks the beginning of a new life.

The story is told of a nurse who, before listening to the heart beats of children, would put the stethoscope into their ears and let them listen to their own hearts.  One day she tucked the stethoscope into the ears of a four-year-old, placed the disk over his heart, and asked, “What do you suppose that is?”

He drew his eyebrows together in a puzzled line and looked up as if lost in the mystery of the strange tap-tap-tapping deep in his chest. Then his face broke out in a wondrous grin. “It’s Jesus knocking!” he said.   Well, maybe so.

If I were to do the same to you, put a stethoscope to your chest and ask you what you heard, would you hear Jesus knocking?  Is today the day that Jesus order the stone to be rolled away from your tomb. “Lazarus, come out!”

The story of the raising of Lazarus ends with these words, “Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him.”

How about you? Have you really put your faith in him? Do you trust him? Are you willing to turn your life over to his guidance, his direction, his plan for your life? 

“Lazarus, come out!”