John 11:38-45 (Common English Bible)

Jesus was deeply disturbed again when he came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone covered the entrance.

Jesus said, “Remove the stone.”

Martha, the sister of the dead man, said, “Lord, the smell will be awful! He’s been dead four days.”

Jesus replied, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you will see God’s glory?” So they removed the stone.

Jesus looked up and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. I know you always hear me. I say this for the benefit of the crowd standing here so that they will believe that you sent me.” Having said this, Jesus shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”

The dead man came out, his feet bound and his hands tied, and his face covered with a cloth.

Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.”

Therefore, many of the Jews who came with Mary and saw what Jesus did believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

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I have read the story of Lazarus coming out of the tomb hundreds of times, but I noticed something recently that I don’t think I had ever paid attention to before. It’s a small thing, But I kind of think it’s a big thing.

Lazarus, a good friend, probably a benefactor, of Jesus dies.

And so, following the customs of his day, he is prepared for burial and buried on the same day as his death, before sunset.

He is prepared for burial in his home. The preparation includes a washing of the body. Depending on the financial means of the family, and what is at their disposal, different perfumes and spices are poured into the the water that is used to wash the corpse and then applied directly to the body after the washing.

Then Lazarus is covered in cloth. Not like a mummy wrapping with tight strips of cloth, something looser, with bigger pieces of material. Sometimes the wrapping goes around the body, but often, if the piece of cloth is long enough, it is wrapped from the chin downward to the feet and then back up to the neck.

And then a separate cloth is placed gently around Lazarus’ head.

But before his body is wrapped, his hands and feet are tied. This is a thing I didn’t recognize in the past as I read the story of Lazarus. His hands and feet are tied.

The reason for this is simple enough. The wrapped body is carried to the tomb in a procession and to avoid any unpleasant situation where an arm falls out of the wrapping or a leg dangles loosely, wrists are tied together, as are feet, but not with a rope, gently with cloth.

After Lazarus is prepared and wrapped, family members carry the body from the house to the tomb while other family, friends and associates process behind.

Quite often, and in this case, a tomb is fashioned from a natural cave which are abundant Judean hill country. Slabs are often chiseled into the wall.

Only family members enter the tomb and place the wrapped Lazarus on the slab. And then a stone that has been chiseled round is rolled in front of the tomb to keep wild animals from disturbing the body. The tomb is perhaps not sealed because there are several burial chambers within so there will be a need to open it in the future.

After the burial, family members and friends return to Martha and Mary’s home for condolences and food. For seven days, family members stay at home out of respect. The only time they leave the house is to visit the tomb to sit vigil.

And that’s where Mary and Martha are when Jesus comes. They are mourning at home. After the profound conversation (which we get to next week) with their friend Jesus, they accompany him to the tomb to pay respects. Other family and friends walk a step or two behind them.

They all gather around the tomb and are surprised when Jesus, upon arriving at the tomb, says to some of the people there, “Move the stone away.”

Martha objects with good reason. But Jesus insists.

The Stone is moved, I assume people are expecting Jesus to go in, but he does not. Instead, Jesus prays, making sure everybody around hears his words.

Then, shouting, he calls out Lazarus’ name and Lazarus comes out of the tomb.

Since Lazarus’ feet are tied together, he doesn’t walk out of the tomb, he hops out.

How disorienting it must be for Lazarus, as the writer tells us that his head is still covered. First, he wakes up from the dead, and then he Hops blindly out of the tomb and into the sunlight, hearing the shrieks and exclamations from the crowd.

Unnerving to say the least.

And then Jesus says the thing that I never paid attention to before, he says it to the crowd, “untie him and let him go.”

Maybe I never noticed this call to untie Lazarus because other translations choose different verbiage that isn’t so blunt.

The King James has Jesus saying “loose him.”

The Message reads, “unwrap him.”

Both the Revised and New Revised Standard Versions say, “Unbind him.”

The New International Version reads, “Take off his grave clothes.”

The Common English Bible records Jesus saying, “λύσατε αυτόν” “Untie him and let him go!”

So, First, Jesus calls Lazarus to wake up from being dead, after four days in the tomb (a miracle that I believe is the final straw to the religious leaders. Once the so called Messiah starts raising people from the dead, its time for him to go.) Jesus then invites the crowd to untie Lazarus.

Jesus restores Lazarus’ life with a shout and then encourages the people to help him be freed of that which bound his hands and feet.

Jesus gives him this second chance at living and to Lazarus’ friends he gives the opportunity to join the process, “you untie him, unbind him, free him.”

Jesus invites Lazarus’ friends to participate in the making of Lazarus’ new life!

Hang with me a minute as I get dangerously close to spiritualizing the text, but I wonder if maybe this passage is reminding us that we have a role to play in the salvific work of God? Might we be called to be untiers?

Jesus did the hard work, but he invited Lazarus’ friends to join the fun- Untie him, let him go.

Don’t you think that some folks are hesitant to get too close to dead-ten-minutes-ago-but-alive-now Lazarus?

And If Lazarus’ friends had not untied him, he would’ve have been stuck. While given new life, he still would have been bound- his hands tied, his feet tied, his face covered. He still would have to hop around with no clue as to where he was- had his friends refused to untie him.

But they do untie him,

and maybe, like them, we are called to be untiers

Our task, as friends of Lazarus (a great label) is to untie people, set free people who have been touched by the grace of God but need assistance from their friends in experiencing freedom.

We untie people as we encourage them. Kind, supportive words and actions untie the ropes that bind. Is there a greater gift given in this world than encouragement- not false encouragement used to manipulate people into doing what you want, but real, heart-felt encouragement that allows people to discover the depths of faith for themselves.

We untie people when we positively challenge them. Judi and I were running a half marathon in Indianapolis (which included running a lap around the Indy motor speedway) and as we approached the finish line at monument circle, the sidewalks were full of people handing out water and gator-ade and yelling encouragement. “You can do it, only 12 more blocks.” They didn’t mock or laugh or critique our running styles, they positively challenged us to keep moving!

We untie people as we show them unconditional love. When people know they are loved even when they mess up, even when they fail, they feel free to discover who they are in Christ.

We untie people when we support them. When people know we have their back, they feel strength to move forward. We have people in this congregation who are experts in support. They seem to know when it is needed and how to supply it. I am so thankful to have un-tiers like that in my life.

We untie people when we work with them for justice and equity on their behalf.

We untie people when we comfort them. We are healers as we heal with our words, our deeds, our prayers.

We untie people when we walk beside them. We really are on this journey together.

Sure, Jesus does the heavy lifting- resurrection, salvation, new life, second chances, but then he invites us to join him in the process by lifting each other up as we untie each other and walk beside each other away from the tomb and on to the journey to freedom!

Amen.

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Pastoral Prayer

Lord,

We hear you, “Come out” you say,

Come out and be free. Be Mine.

Be a conduit of love and encouragement.

Be a conduit of kindness and grace.

Be a source of comfort.

Be a source of help in times of trouble.

Be a reflection of the divine light.

We hear you say, come out,

But we are bound,

Bound in our weakness,

Bound in our failure,

Bound in our selfishness,

Bound in our sin.

Unbind us Lord,

Free us to be the people you have intended us to be.

Free us to be.

In the name of Jesus,

Our brother and our friend,

Amen.