What is the meaning of John 11:44? The man who had been dead • John 11:44 begins by reminding us Lazarus “had been dead.” Four days in the tomb (John 11:17) proved the reality of his death and the impossibility of natural resuscitation. • Jesus had already stated plainly, “Lazarus is dead” (John 11:14), and Martha warned, “Lord, by now he stinks” (John 11:39). The gospel leaves no room for metaphor here—this was literal death. • Similar literal raisings—Jairus’s daughter (Mark 5:41-42) and the widow’s son at Nain (Luke 7:14-15)—foreshadow the ultimate resurrection promise (John 5:28-29; 1 Thessalonians 4:16). Came out • At Jesus’ command, “Lazarus, come out!” (John 11:43), life instantly returned. Death, the “last enemy” (1 Corinthians 15:26), had to yield. • The scene previews the day when “all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come out” (John 5:28-29). • Acts 2:24 affirms that God “freed Him from the agony of death,” showing Christ’s authority to release others from death as well. His hands and feet bound in strips of linen • Burial cloths were tightly wrapped (John 19:40). Even restrained, Lazarus obeyed the call—evidence that resurrection power surpasses every physical barrier. • Hebrews 2:14-15 rejoices that Jesus frees those “held in slavery by their fear of death,” just as Lazarus was freed from literal grave wrappings. and his face wrapped in a cloth • The separate face cloth (John 20:7) later found in Jesus’ own empty tomb echoes this detail, tying Lazarus’s raising to Christ’s resurrection victory. • Isaiah 25:7 speaks of God removing “the shroud that enfolds all peoples,” an image fulfilled here in miniature. Unwrap him • Jesus involves the community: “Unwrap him.” – Practical care: friends remove what still clings to the resurrected man. – Spiritual picture: believers help one another discard remnants of the old life (Colossians 3:9-10; Galatians 6:2). • Though the miracle is entirely Christ’s work, He graciously lets others participate in the aftermath. and let him go • Freedom follows life. Lazarus is not only alive but released. • John 8:36 promises, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” • Romans 6:7 declares that one who has died with Christ “has been freed from sin,” pointing to the deeper liberation Jesus offers. • Revelation 1:18 shows Jesus holding “the keys of Death and of Hades,” so the command to “let him go” rings with eternal authority. summary John 11:44 records a literal, historical miracle: a dead man hears the Creator’s voice, walks out still wrapped in burial linens, and is freed at Jesus’ word. The verse showcases Christ’s absolute power over death, previews the universal resurrection, and illustrates the believer’s journey—raised to new life by Jesus, aided by the community to shed the trappings of the old existence, and released to walk in true freedom. |
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