“Lazarus, Come Forth”
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Calmly Christ stands before the tomb. A sacred solemnity rests
upon all present. Christ steps closer to the sepulcher. Lifting His eyes
to heaven, He says, “Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me.”
Not long before this, Christ’s enemies had accused Him of blasphemy,
and had taken up stones to cast at Him because He claimed to be the
Son of God. They accused Him of performing miracles by the power
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of Satan. But here Christ claims God as His Father, and with perfect
confidence declares that He is the Son of God.
In all that He did, Christ was co-operating with His Father. Ever He
had been careful to make it evident that He did not work independently;
it was by faith and prayer that He wrought His miracles. Christ desired
all to know His relationship with His Father. “Father,” He said, “I
thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me. And I knew that Thou hearest
Me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that
they may believe that Thou hast sent Me.” Here the disciples and the
people were to be given the most convincing evidence in regard to the
relationship existing between Christ and God. They were to be shown
that Christ’s claim was not a deception.
“And when He thus had spoken, He cried with a loud voice,
Lazarus, come forth.” His voice, clear and penetrating, pierces the
ear of the dead. As He speaks, divinity flashes through humanity. In
His face, which is lighted up by the glory of God, the people see the
assurance of His power. Every eye is fastened on the entrance to the
cave. Every ear is bent to catch the slightest sound. With intense and
painful interest all wait for the test of Christ’s divinity, the evidence
that is to substantiate His claim to be the Son of God, or to extinguish
the hope forever.
There is a stir in the silent tomb, and he who was dead stands at
the door of the sepulcher. His movements are impeded by the grave-
clothes in which he was laid away, and Christ says to the astonished
spectators, “Loose him, and let him go.” Again they are shown that
the human worker is to co-operate with God. Humanity is to work for
humanity. Lazarus is set free, and stands before the company, not as
one emaciated from disease, and with feeble, tottering limbs, but as
a man in the prime of life, and in the vigor of a noble manhood. His
eyes beam with intelligence and with love for his Saviour. He casts
himself in adoration at the feet of Jesus.