And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. — John 11:43–44 (KJV)
The Stone Rolls Away
Four days. The crowd was there. The smell was there. Martha had already protested — "Lord, by this time he stinketh." And Jesus did it anyway. He prayed out loud, not for His own benefit, but so the crowd would understand whose power was about to move. Then He shouted into a tomb.
Lazarus came out. Still wrapped in grave clothes. Still bound. But alive.
There are two miracles in this passage, and it's easy to miss the second one. The first is the resurrection. The second comes right after: Jesus turns to the crowd and says, "Loose him, and let him go." He didn't raise Lazarus back to life just to leave him hobbled. He called him out of death and then set him free.
Called Forth
The "Lazarus moments" are more common than we think — not physical death usually, but the death of a marriage that seemed finished, a friendship gone cold for years, a version of yourself you quietly gave up on. The places you stopped believing could live again.
What's remarkable about Jesus calling into that tomb is that He didn't wait for it to smell better. He didn't ask Lazarus to demonstrate some faith first, didn't ask Mary and Martha to clean the situation up. He called, and death had to obey.
The voice that raised a dead man can reach whatever you've buried.
Wrapped but Walking
The scene doesn't end with Lazarus walking out. It ends with Jesus instructing the people around him to unwrap him. There's something in that worth sitting with. Some things God raises back to life need community to finish the work of freedom. Coming forth is one thing. Actually walking in open air takes help.
What grave clothes are still on you? What part of you came back to life, but nobody's helped you get free yet?
Jesus is calling something forth today. Not a future promise — a present-tense command. Come forth. And when you do, He is not going to leave you wrapped up. The same voice that opened the tomb is the one saying, "Loose him, and let him go."