John 11:43 “And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. 44 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.”
Since the day our Lord spoke these words, there have been innumerable sermons preached, entitled “Lazarus, come forth”! For, at that moment, before the eyes of both believers and nonbelievers, the Omnipotent Power of God was on full and plain display. These words were an authoritative Command from the Sovereign God Who was vividly demonstrating that He had power over both life and death. When He issued this Command, the decomposing body of “Lazarus” was reconstituted, his spirit was returned to his living body, and he was carried out of the “grave” by God. Notice that when “he that was dead came forth”, He was still “bound hand and foot with graveclothes”, “and his face was bound about with a napkin”. The Lord could have caused all this to fall from him inside the grave, but by allowing it to remain on him, it further emphasized that “Lazarus” had indeed been dead and that he did not raise himself nor exit the “grave” by his own power, but that He was raise to life and raised from the “grave” entirely by the will and power of God. Consider for a moment those that “Jesus” told to “Loose him, and let him go”; how great was their anticipation as they began to unwrap him, then their astonished joy as they saw his opened eyes and him breathing and smiling and then him embracing them. Then, to realize fully and practically, that God, Jesus Christ, is standing in their midst! Even now, I feel overwhelmed, just considering such a thing! As in all miraculous events, the believers rejoiced and took great courage in it; but the unbelievers immediately set out to discredit and squash it.