Jesus speaks, and life results.
The Gospel of John: John 11.38-48
Read and meditate on John 11.43, 44.
The moment arrives, and Jesus shows the power of His Word to bring life.
43Now when Jesus all these things had said,
He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come
forth!” 44And the man who died, and had for some
four days been buried, came forth, bound both hand
and feet with grave clothes, and a linen band
around his face. And Jesus said, “Unloose
him; let him go.”
– John 11.43, 44
Reflect
1. We recall that Jesus changed water into wine simply by thinking those additional molecules into existence (Jn. 2). Other miracles were performed before a minimum public; only a few heard Him speak or saw what He did, though the reports were spread widely. Here, surrounded by a throng of shocked mourners, Jesus spoke with a “loud voice.” Why did He choose to do this miracle in this way? Complete the following prayer: Lord, You have sent me to proclaim Your Word throughout my Personal Mission Field, to make Your Word loud and clear to…
2. Lazarus was dead. All his bodily functions had ceased, and the process of decay had already begun. How many different things had to happen in Lazarus for him to come back to life? What does this indicate concerning the power of Jesus’ Word? You are sovereign, Lord Jesus, over all things, all aspects of my life, and I look to You with gratitude for…
3. Meditate on Hebrews 1.3. The word here translated upholding in NKJV means literally “to bear, carry, or move along.” Can you see in Jesus’ raising of Lazarus an analogy to His upholding all things? How much is encompassed by all things? How does the Word of Jesus’ power operate to bear, carry, or move along these all things? You are sovereign, Lord, over all things, and thus infinitely wise, infinitely strong, infinitely…
4. Lazarus, quickened by Jesus’ Word, came forth from the tomb in his grave clothes. Jesus instructed those around him to “Loose him, and let him go.” Meditate on Ephesians 4.17-24. Compare these verses with John 11.44. What does Jesus intend for us? How does that happen? Clothe me, Lord Jesus, by the power of Your word, with…
5. Recall Jesus’ purpose for raising Lazarus (Jn. 11.4, 14, 40). Were all these accomplished in this moment? Explain. Bring together your prayers from questions 1-4 into one prayer.
Summary
“Here we have a man past the prime of life, a corpse, decaying, swollen, in fact, already in a state of dissolution, so that even his own relatives did not want the Lord to draw near the tomb because the decayed body enclosed there was so offensive. And yet, he is brought into life by a single call, confirming the proclamation of the resurrection, that is to say, that expectation of it as universal that we learn by a particular experience to entertain. For as in the regeneration of the universe the apostle tells us that ‘the Lord himself will descend with a shout, with the voice of the archangel,’ and by a trumpet sound raise up the dead to incorruption—so now too he who is in the tomb, at the voice of command, shakes off death as if it were only sleep. He rids himself of the corruption that had come on his condition of a corpse, leaps forth from the tomb whole and sound, not even hindered as he leaves by the bonds of the grave cloths round his feet and hands.” Gregory of Nyssa (335-394 AD)
The Word of Jesus Christ has vivifying power. How do you experience that power?
Closing Prayer
Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth;
Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.
Sing to the LORD with the harp,
With the harp and the sound of a psalm,
With trumpets and the sound of a horn;
Shout joyfully before the LORD, the King.
Let the sea roar, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell in it;
Let the rivers clap their hands;
Let the hills be joyful together before the LORD,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
With righteousness He shall judge the world,
And the peoples with equity.
Psalm 98.4-9
Psalm 98.4-9 (Duke Street: Come, Let Us Sing unto the Lord)
Raise to the Lord your loudest voice!
Break forth and sing! Rejoice! Rejoice!
Praise, praise to You, our God and King,
With all our hearts and strength we bring!
Now let the whole creation ‘round
Burst into song with joyous sound!
Jesus will come to judge the earth;
Let all proclaim His matchless worth!
T. M. Moore
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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series IV a and b: John, edited by Joel C. Elowsky, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006. Verse translation of John by T. M. Moore.
