I have always kind of wondered what was running through Jesus’ mind while all these events around Lazarus’ death unfolded. When he got the news that his good friend Lazarus was deathly ill, Jesus didn’t just pack up and head to his house but stuck around for another two days.

I admit that I find Mary’s reaction to Jesus when he shows up as completely understandable. "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." How many times have we said to friends or family members, "If you had been here this would not have happened."? I admit that more times than is healthy I have played the "if only" game. If only she told me she was sick… If only he had told me what was running through his mind… If only I had been there… We’ve all probably wondered our own "if onlys."

From Mary’s reaction and the realization that his friend is dead, we get a glimpse at an emotion not often written about in reference to Jesus. Jesus cries. Tears fall down the cheek of our Savior as he journeys to the tomb of his friend. I’ve always wondered if Jesus knew that Lazarus would be raised in just a few moments. I’ve wondered if Jesus knew what he was about to do as he walked to the grave. Twice in this passage John describes Jesus as being "greatly disturbed." Jesus is going through some strong emotions.

But yet when he comes face to face with the tomb, even after being reminded by Martha about the physical reality of decay, Jesus faces it with confidence. With a powerful voice, Jesus calls for Lazarus to cross the boundary from death to life.

What was Lazarus thinking as he moved from the darkness of death into the light of life? No doubt confused by what was happening and still wrapped up in the clothes of the grave, Lazarus comes out. From the place of darkness, Lazarus is welcomed again into the light of day.

This is an amazing scene and the way John describes it is almost like reading a script. I can see the scene unfold in my mind like a movie. Jesus with the remnant of tears still wet in his beard, calling out to Lazarus, "Come out!" Lazarus stumbling out with strips of cloth trailing after him, holding his feet together and covering his face.

But why mention the grave clothes? Why did Lazarus come out of the tomb still bound up with cloth? Why did Jesus have to command someone to "unbind him and let him go"?

I admit that I have been wrestling with this passage for a while. I have kept this passage with me as I walked through the events of this last week. As I attended the funeral of Eric’s grandmother and watched the silent tears and listened to the sniffling, I heard the words "Jesus wept" running through my mind. As we mourned the loss of an anchor for the family, I remembered that Jesus cried over the loss of his friend as well.

But it didn’t stop there. As I listened to the many stories friends and family shared about her, somewhere in the back of my mind I heard Jesus speak words of release. Quietly at first, I heard the words "Come out."

At the graveside service, the minister (Eric’s cousin) made the sign of the cross over the coffin and with that visual reminder, I remembered this passage where Jesus called Lazarus from death to life. To those outside the Christian faith and perhaps even to some of those within it, it might seem odd to be thinking about resurrection while standing at the grave. But isn’t that the crux of our faith? Don’t we believe that death is not the final answer? Death does not have the final say on us. The last word is not death but life. If we listen at the grave of a loved one, even among the tears and loss, God speaks not a word of death but a word of life. We follow a Savior who experienced death only to move through it to offer life.

Lazarus stumbled out of his tomb still wrapped up in the trappings of death. Jesus had spoken words of life but they had not eliminated the trappings of death. How many times have we listened to Jesus’ words of life only to be trapped within our own grave clothes? Have we heard Jesus’ words of resurrection only to find that the shroud of death still covers our face and the strips of cloth still prevent our feet from walking the path to life?

There are so many things that can stop our ears from hearing the words of life Jesus speaks. Sometimes the noise from advertisements drown out the calls to "come out." Sometimes the stress from having to work so hard just to make ends meet, can wrap around our feet and cause us to stumble along the path to life. Sometimes the rampant busy-ness can keep us running around so fast that we don’t stop to see what path we tread. Sometimes it is as though a veil is cast over our face so that we are unable to see the path ahead.

When Lazarus comes out of the tomb, he is still wrapped up in death. Certainly his body has life within it. He moves out of the tomb on his own. But though his body has life within it, he is still wrapped up in the things of death.

Another thing I find interesting in this passage is that Jesus doesn’t tell Lazarus to shed the grave clothes himself. Instead, Jesus commands those who have gathered at the grave, the ones who have witnessed this movement from death to life and heard the words of life that Jesus spoke to Lazarus, Jesus commands these people to help Lazarus strip away the grave clothes. It is the gathered community, these witnesses to resurrection that help unbind Lazarus from the things that still hold him to death. "Unbind him, and let him go," Jesus commands.

Are we always able to even see or feel the things that bind us to death? When God speaks a word of life are we able to see the ways that death still has a hold on us? Can we unbind ourselves?

From its very beginning, followers of Jesus gathered together in communities. Most communities were small and met in people’s homes. It wasn’t the size of the community or fellowship that mattered but it was the joining together of two or more people that formed what would become the church.

A crowd was gathered around the grave that day. Some of them had brought food to the family mourning Lazarus’ death. Others had come to weep with Mary and Martha. Others had just come to see the spectacle of what Jesus would do. If we read a little farther in John we get to hear the reactions of those gathered around the tomb that day.

Many of them believed in Jesus because of what they saw. But some of them went and told the Pharisees what Jesus had done. This became the last straw for the Pharisees and scribes and they decided that Jesus must die. By speaking words of life to Lazarus, Jesus was marked for death.

But some of the people who had gathered at the tomb that day heard Jesus’ words of life. They heard Jesus’ command to unbind Lazarus from the trappings of death and they did. They unwrapped Lazarus’ legs so that he would be free to walk the path. They unbound his hands from the strips of cloth so that he could embrace others. They removed the cloth from his face so that he could see the light of life in which he walked.

It is those who help to look at the things that bind us to death that form the church. When we can look at one another and offer help to unbind us from the things that keep us from walking the path of life, then we are the church.

Certainly Lazarus would die again and this time Jesus would not come four days later to shout at the mouth of the tomb. But Jesus would die and three days later would have the final word. That final word is not death, but life.