Late in 2024 I began to think about a scripture verse for 2025. For various reasons, I landed on Ephesians 5:14, which reads, “This is why it is said: ‘Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’” This is one of the verses I say upon waking each morning, as a reminder that each day is an opportunity to live fully awake to the presence of the Lord Jesus. Alongside Christ, we share the burden of the numerous people—some we know and countless we don’t —that are not awake to the reality of our Savior’s presence and His love.

Over the past couple of months, I’ve been dwelling on the story of Lazarus from John 11 as a story of a life awakened by Christ.

Intercession. You may recall that John 11 begins by telling us that Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, is sick. So, what do Mary and Martha do? They intercede on behalf of Lazarus by sending word to Jesus the grave condition of Lazarus. “Lord, the one you love is sick” (v. 3). While Lazarus’ illness was certainly a physical illness, we also know friends, family members, co-workers, and others who have sin-sick souls expressed through all manner of brokenness and dysfunction. I believe we would all agree that the Lord Jesus loves each one of them. What if we, like Mary and Martha, interceded for them praying to Jesus, “Lord, the soul of (insert name of person) whom you love is not well and only you can make them whole.”

Notice, however, that things didn’t immediately get better for Lazarus, they got much worse. Lazarus died before Jesus shows up to do anything. Yet, note the posture of Martha in the story. Martha says to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask” (v. 21-22). Mary clings to hope and continues to intercede for Lazarus because she believes Jesus can still do something. Her sister Mary, in her own way, intercedes with tears. And when Jesus saw her weeping, and those with her weeping, He weeps as well. Sometimes the only prayers we can pray for those we love are expressed in tears. We trust that Jesus knows the hurt and love behind those tears and that He is weeping alongside us. Author Ken Gire wisely says, “So much is distilled in our tears, not the least of which is wisdom in living life. From my own tears I have learned that if you follow your tears, you will find your heart. If you find your heart, you will find what is dear to God. And if you find what is dear to God, you will find the answer to how you should live your life.”[1] Certainly, tears shed in prayer for those who don’t know Christ are dear to God.

Opposition. Some of the people with Jesus, Martha, and Mary said, “Could not [Jesus] who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” (v. 37) In other words, “It’s too late now.” When we are interceding for Christ to wake from the dead those whose souls are asleep, we should expect to experience opposition. We might hear words like, “Well, she’s too far gone for Christ to reach her now” or “He’s in so deep, not even the Lord can pull him out.” We can also expect Satan to tempt us with such thoughts as, “Are these prayers and tears really making a difference? Does God even hear me?”

Notice in the Lazarus story, however, that Jesus is determined to get to the tomb of Lazarus. Deeply moved He comes to the tomb and says, “Take away the stone.” The opposition then comes from Martha who says, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there for four days” (v. 39). Martha and Jesus have competing agendas. Martha is concerned about keeping a dead man and his stench inside a tomb. Jesus intends to make a dead man alive and bring him out of the tomb.

The Miracle. Jesus prays to the Father and then does what only Jesus can do. He shouts out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” (v. 43). It’s interesting that John records “the dead man came out” (v. 44). After all, dead men don’t walk out of tombs. We should read it like this: The once dead man was now fully alive came out.

We might think of this miracle of Jesus as a miracle that all believers have experienced. We were once dead in our trespasses and sins but now we are alive in Christ (see Ephesians 2:1-6). Jesus called us out of the tomb and brought us “once dead” people to life! Our gratefulness is not only to Jesus and His grace, but also to those faithful intercessors who, in some untold way, played a role in their constant commitment to labor in prayer for us.

Community. When Lazarus comes out of the tomb he is dressed in grave clothes. Lazarus can’t take the grave clothes off himself. The community surrounding him must help him so that Lazarus can be let go (v. 44). Like Lazarus, we need this kind of community so we can be unbound and released from the spiritual grave clothes that cling to us. We cannot—nor are we meant to—live out our discipleship in isolation. We need each other to “spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another” (Heb 10:24-25).

Paul, writing to the community of Christ in Colossae, says that we are to take off the old grave clothes by putting to death “sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry … anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language from your lips and dishonesty” (Col 3:5, 8, 9). That’s the old way of life of one still dressed in the grave clothes of a dead man. Instead, Paul says,

As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

This is not about behavior management. As British Evangelist Leonard Ravenhill famously said, “Jesus did not come into the world to make bad men good. He came into the world to make dead men live.” A life alive in Christ is no longer bound by graveclothes. A life in Christ is bound to Christ, His life, and His love. The outflow of this kind of life is loving Christ and loving like Christ. This is the life that we desire not only for ourselves, but for others as well.

[1] https://faithgateway.com/blogs/christian-books/windows-tears