Unbind Him; Let Him Go

Sunday evening at our Bible study, I had an epiphany, a sudden realization. We had a round-robin rehearsal of the story of Mary, Martha, and their brother Lazarus. This can be found in John 11:1-44. If you do not know or remember the story, Jesus is good friends with this family. He gets word from Mary and Martha that their brother Lazarus is extremely ill, and they ask him to come to restore their brother to health. Jesus intentionally delays going to Bethany. In the meantime, Lazarus has died. He is already in a burial cave. The mourners are gathered around the sisters. When Jesus comes, they each confront him with accusations—if only he had come sooner, their brother would still be alive. After some theological conversations, Jesus goes to the tomb, and commands Lazarus to come out. Lazarus comes out, still wrapped in grave clothes. Jesus commands those gathered around to “Unbind him. Let him go.”

As we got to that point in our round robin, I was suddenly struck by the realization that this is the point of the story, at least for those of us who stand around observing. Yes, Jesus is the power of life over death; he is the Resurrection; he is the Life. Yet, even as Jesus has called Lazarus to come forth into the Light of the resurrection, there is still a role for us. We cannot bring someone back to life, but we can be a means by which Jesus unbinds those who are wrapped in grave clothes, in restraints that keep them from the fullness of life.

Oh, this is the mission to which we are called! How many folks do we know who are bound up? How many of us are bound up? Jesus calls us to Life; and he calls us to unbind and let go. What if we really took this to heart as our mission? What joy it would be to be a part of helping set people free!

I’m in. Are you?