Graveclothes

John 11:43-44

He cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth." The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." (NASB)

And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!" (NLT)

I tried to do a little research on burial clothes in first century Judaism, and I didn't come up with much. Here's what I know: when someone died they were wrapped head to foot in these heavy linens, and the linens were tucked into the body. I've seen that these linens were far too heavy to be lifted by someone who had lost some muscle mass, adding some new meaning to Jesus folding his grave clothes before he exited the tomb.

(The next couple sentences may be too graphic for some, feel free to skip to the next paragraph) So Lazarus has been dead for four days, which means rigor mortis has set in and subsided, at some point he was bound in these linens and covered with a shroud. After four days, his body structure has begun to collapse and decay is well under way.

Jesus apparently shouts (the New King James Version gives the impression that he cried out at the top of his lungs, which is worth noting for a later post) and Lazarus comes out of his tomb, still wrapped in his linens. He was apparently so weak and bound so tightly that Jesus told the others to take the grave clothes off of him so that he could go free.

Unbound

I feel bound. I feel like the things I need healing for have me wrapped up tightly and my system is unmoving. Today, in this story, I am Lazarus. And what I need is for Jesus to come crashing into my life and cry out "David, come out!"

Since this is one of those stories we all know by heart, sometimes the details get tweaked a bit. For instance, I thought the next line was Jesus telling Lazarus to take off his grave clothes and go free. It turns out that the people around him had to do that for him, that Jesus directed them to. And I imagine they were quite happy to help.

In the coming weeks I'll look at Jesus' part in this, but to keep it simple for today, let me share the lesson that shook my system: If you've been bound for a period of time, you may not be able to get the things that bound you off by yourself. Jesus can bring me back to life and he may provide others in my life to help me sort through it and shed the inner-wrappings so I can go free. Emotional healing isn't a one-stop-shop, but rather a process that leads to life. And sometimes I feel like if Jesus can provide the first move, I can handle it from there, but the truth is I need people to travel with, to help me out. To unbind me and let me go.

Over the next month I want to think about the healing process, about Jesus, about the others and about all sorts of crazy stuff we can learn from these 44 verses. I'm hoping that some of you will find truth and life from these words as well. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

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