“‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’” 

(John 11:43-44)

John 11:1-45

Jesus stands at the entrance of the tomb and invites Lazarus out. God does not abandon Lazarus. Jesus called Lazarus by name. Notice that Lazarus is not cleaned up. He comes as he is. He then tells those around him to free Lazarus and let him go. Jesus gives Lazarus new life, resurrected life, and invites him to live in freedom from whatever binds him. 

In these last days of Lent, we, too, are invited to listen to the voice of the Lord, calling us out of whatever tombs we find ourselves into new life. God never abandons us, and we, like Lazarus, are called by name by Jesus, and we don’t have to be cleaned up first. Instead, the Lord calls us out as we are now. 

Jesus doesn’t just call us. Like Lazarus, we, too, are offered freedom. He invites us to claim the new life that only God can offer. We are created out of love and for love. God’s invitation is always to freedom – freedom to receive and show love and use our gifts in service. The new life that Jesus offers moves us from being focused on ourselves, our struggles and challenges (ego-centric) to being focused on God and God’s call to us (God-centric). When God sets us free, we discover a deep sense of joy and consolation. Paradoxically our lives will get bigger, our vision broader, and our happiness deeper when we shift our gaze from our lives to the Lord. That is what it means to live the resurrected life that Jesus offers. 

Lent has urged us to look at the many things that might stop the life of God from flowing in us and through us. The journey is one in which we are invited to identify what binds us and what part of us might be dead and in the tomb. Notice how, as Holy Week draws near, we are already being nudged to look for the invitation of God to live the new life of resurrection. Lent has helped us see where, in us, we need new life. Now the Lord invites us to receive the new life he gives freely as a gift. 

Take time today to reflect on where, in your life, you are hearing Jesus call you out into new life. How does the call of Jesus sound to you? What do you feel in yourself as you become aware of the Lord’s voice inviting you to live the resurrected life, newfound freedom?  

Lord Jesus, 

You stand at the entrance to the tombs that we are buried in and call to us:

 “Come out!”. 

You invite us, as we are, by name, to new life. 

We don’t have to get all “cleaned up” to receive your loving freedom. 

Grace me with the openness to receive the new life you offer in gratitude. 

Help me to live, like Lazarus, a life of resurrection. 

Amen.