Remove the Grave Clothes! 1-10-26

Waking up this morning with a renewed sense of purpose, of intentional discipleship – both submitting and reaching out – to an assignment of teaching what Jesus gave as His last words, after modeling what that actually looks like in practice in Bethany. Nearly two weeks before His crucifixion, Jesus was standing in front of the tomb of His friend Lazarus, who had died. His two sisters, in two separate conversations, had cried out to Him, “If You would have been here, my brother would not have died.” Although we could read that as an accusation like “where were you?” I believe it was more of an acknowledgment that with Jesus present, He could have healed Lazarus while he was just sick.

Jesus sees the weeping, and although He knows what He’s about to do, He weeps with them in compassion over their grief, possibly over their unbelief – he had already raised the dead – and feeling the pain of loss, not just of other deaths before this, but also looking ahead (?) to His own impending crucifixion.

He tells Martha to roll the stone away and she objects: “Lord, it’s been 4 days, He stinks”. That was just the reality of bodily decomposition. Spices and other things they used to prepare the body only went so far – even in the dry air. He assures her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” The people around them rolled the stone away and Jesus prayed aloud to God so the people could hear Him, thanking God for hearing Him so that the people would believe. Then He called out “Lazarus, Come forth!” What happens next is easy to miss in the excitement of everything that happens here. Lazarus comes out, bound hand and foot with a cloth wrapped around his head, and everyone around is watching. We can imagine gasps, cheers, questions, declarations of belief that Jesus MUST be the Messiah in the next few verses. But first, Jesus says to those who were standing nearby, “Loose him, and let him go” (NKJV) Other Translations say, “untie him…”, “unbind him…”, “unwrap him…”. The NIV says “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” (John 11:44)

This, combined with Jesus’s Words several weeks later before His ascension give us clear direction for what we are supposed to do: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matt 28:19-20)

When we believe in Jesus, accepting Him as our Lord and Savior, it’s not the end of the faith journey, but the the first step. We “cross over from death to life” (John 5:24), like Lazarus coming out of the tomb. We still have stinky grave clothes on: old habits, mindsets, belief systems that need to be discarded so our minds can be renewed, our priorities realigned, and we can exchange our “filthy rags” for “His robes of righteousness”. This is not a one day task, but rather a change of lifestyle and series of decisions to starve the flesh and feed our spirit in Christ through the Holy Spirit. This is not done by ourselves, but in community with other believers as Proverbs 27:17 points out: “Iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance/character/wits/insight of his friend.” We help one another walk this out.

Just like Jesus called others who were standing nearby that day in Bethany to “remove his (physical) grave clothes”, we are called to “sharpen” one another by reasoning together with one another over Scripture, to “confess your sins one to another, and pray for one another that you may be healed” (James 5:16), following the direction in Hebrews 12:1 to “lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily entangles/ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race set before us.” Some of those weights and sins can be so clingy that we need others to come and help us out of them, through accountability, admonishment, prayer, encouragement and testimony of our own struggles with them!

I personally experienced this in a prayer group I recently became part of. After a morning prayer time, we starting having conversations about recent situations. The guys left for work and three of us women were talking when some things started coming to my mind, things I needed to confess, and get out but they felt so heavy. The words came out but the weight inside didn't ease up, and next thing I knew I was face down on the floor pouring out my heart to God. Even though I had never experienced anything like this before, my friends had. And, while one started praying over and for me, the other met me on the floor and started "brushing off" my back, my legs and my arms with her hands, like dust had settled on me and she was brushing it off. Between the three of us, we became a live demonstration of James 5:16 and John 11:44 right there in the living room! The weight lifted, an incredible peace came over me, I got up and we continued our conversation for a little while before we all when on with our day. It was powerful, calming and gave me a personal look into what's possible when we truly are the church for one another!

This is the heart of discipleship and mentoring! Growing relationship with others, helping them develop greater and deeper levels of spiritual maturity and then reaching out even more to others to introduce them to Christ, and disciple them! It’s an intentional and purposeful call we become more well-equipped for each time we go through it!

So let’s get the “double-edged sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (Heb. 4:12) and “speak the truth in love” (Eph 4:15) in community with one another, ”submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Eph 5:21) and join together to cut off one another’s grave clothes!