Power of the Spoken Word

Lesson #183

We ended the last lesson at John 11:43: “When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”” (ESV). In the beginning God said, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3). The universe came into existence by God speaking it into existence.  “He (Jesus) was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:2 – 3 ESV). It appears that Jesus was the one who spoke and out of nothing came everything. “He was in the world, and the world was made through him” (John 1:10a ESV). God created everything, but the Father and the Spirit worked through Jesus who spoke the words; he who is known as the Word of God (John 1:1). Getting closer to our text, “Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way” (John 4:50 ESV). Jesus who spoke the universe into existence can surely speak a person back to life. Here, Jesus cries out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” Should we not expect Lazarus to come out?

“The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”” (John 11:44 ESV). John is rather short on words here, saying only that the man who had died came out. Nothing was recorded about Lazarus’s reaction or any of the aftermath of his raising. Nothing was said about how Lazarus came out with his hands and feet bound with linen strips and his face wrapped with a cloth, but in reality these are but details we can live without. The important thing is that Jesus spoke and that which was decomposing is now alive and well. Jesus, as the resurrection, will speak and the decomposed bodies of those in Christ will rise to inherit perfect bodies to house our perfect souls and conclude our salvation. Jesus then gives one last instruction to unbind Lazarus and let him go.

You can imagine the divided response that occurred as a result of this miracle? Let us start the next section of this chapter, defined by John 11:45 – 53, and see what the reactions are. “Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done” (John 11:45 – 46 ESV). As we have seen in the past, when Jesus performs a miracle we have those who believe in him and we have those who do not and oppose him. This division exists even to this day and is so clear in many countries in the world where persecution continues to grow in intensity.

Prayer

Father, I pray for my readers that you would bless them through the word that is contained in each lesson. I pray that it would not return empty, but that it would accomplish that purpose for which it was sent. I pray that along with me, these lessons would draw us closer in our walk with the Lord; that we would learn more about who the real Jesus is and his love and provision for us.