By the time Jesus got to Lazarus four days had passed. Many were so upset to see Lazarus dead, Martha even said that “If You had been here, my brother would not have died.” She was convinced that if Jesus had been there that her brother would have lived and everything would be joyous and happy. However, here is Jesus arriving on the scene four days late witnessing the mourning and all the people gathered to comfort those who are hurting. We see Jesus going to the tomb of Lazarus and saying, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me” then with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” The very next verse proclaims that “the man who died came forth”, it was unbelievable Lazarus was now alive, back from the dead!What a story! So incredible to see the authority and power of Christ! How his words have such power to give life. It is crazy to think that Christ has not just raised Lazarus from the dead, but everyone who has faith in Him. You see Lazarus is no different than every human being. Ephesians 2:1 says, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins”, meaning that we to are dead just like Lazarus was in the tomb. Lifeless, no ability to respond, no ability to care, nothing just completely dead. All men are in this state spiritually according to the Bible. All men are dead in their sins and because of this all men are under the wrath of God (Romans 1:18-19, 3:9). However, just like Lazarus, the words and power of Christ have and can change the status of a man. What do I mean? Just like Christ was able to command Lazarus to walk out of that tomb so to is He able to call forth the spiritually dead and give them life. If any man is in Christ that person is a new creature! He has been raised from the dead! His life has been forever changed, because he has been resurrected from the dead.
This has so many implications… Paul said in Romans 6:12-13, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” We are called to present ourselves to God like those who have been brought alive from the dead. Our lives are not our own, they have been bought with blood. So praise the Lord that He does not wait for us, rather gives us life in order that we may respond with faith, love, and obedience to Him. This is the greatest miracle ever and it is because of this that men can be transformed by the gospel.
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