“And when he had thus spoken, he cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth.’ And he who was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus says to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’” John 11:43-44

In John 5, Jesus told the Jews at Jerusalem: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but has passed from death to life. Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and is now, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God. And those who hear shall live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has given to the Son to have life in himself, and has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of man. Do not marvel at this. For the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth — those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:24-29).

Here we see just how truthful Jesus’ words are, for Jesus came to the grave of Lazarus, who had been dead four days and whose body would by then have been giving off the offensive odor of death and decay. Jesus asked that the stone that closed the tomb be removed, and He offered up a prayer that those who stood by would believe the Father had sent Jesus into the world and had given to Him power over death.

And then Jesus “cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth.’” And, as we read, “He who was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth.”

Jesus had said He was “the resurrection and the life,” and the fact that He called Lazarus to life after he had been dead four days proves He is God the Son, sent into this world by God the Father, and that He has the power to raise the dead to life – both those spiritually dead and those physically dead! In fact, had He not specified that it was Lazarus who should come forth from the grave, all the dead would have come out from their graves.

As He said, “Do not marvel at this. For the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth — those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation.” And, even now, “The hour is coming, and is now, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God. And those who hear shall live.”

We, of course, cannot raise the dead from the grave. Nor can we raise the spiritually dead to spiritual life. Our words will do nothing. But, if we proclaim Jesus’ words, He will raise up those who hear His voice to spiritual and eternal life. And on the Last Day, He will call upon all the dead to come forth from their graves. Those who trusted in Him as the Son of God and their Savior will be raised up to eternal life. Those who did not hear Him calling with His Word will be raised up to bear the eternal consequences of their sins.

Jesus, through His Word, has the power to raise the dead from their graves, no matter how long they have been dead or how offensive their bodies have become! And Jesus has the power to raise up the spiritually dead to spiritual life through the hearing of His Word — again no matter how long they have been spiritually dead or how offensive their lives have been.

Jesus desires that each of us hears His voice and believes His words so that we repent of our sinful ways and place our faith in Him and His perfect sacrifice, offered up on the cross for the sins of the world. He desires to raise us up from spiritual death to spiritual life through faith in Him so that, on the last day, He may call us forth from our graves to the eternal joys of heaven, where we will dwell with Him forever!

Grant that we hear Your voice, O Lord, and place our faith in You as God’s Son and our Savior from sin and death. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the Revised Common Version of the Bible.]