We’ve been set free from the tomb. We’ve recognized that our graveclothes threaten to hold us back. We’ve come to know that those graveclothes need not define the new life we have in Christ. But like Lazarus, we stand in the opening of the empty tomb… unable to unwrap the things that bind us. Like Lazarus, we need help!

Jesus instructed those who had witnessed the resurrection of Lazarus to stop standing there with their mouths agape and get to work! “Take off the graveclothes and let him go!” Touching a dead body was a serious issue for the people of Jesus’ day. Now they have to remove graveclothes.

The true freedom from the tomb and resurrected life must be lived in community with others. We cannot experience transformation on our own. We need a loving family to help us unwrap the things that we learned about and named last week. And they need us. It’s messy work. While Lazarus may have been brought back to life, the graveclothes still stink of death. They don’t come off very easily. But the smile that is revealed under the clothes of death is worth it.

The Bible is full of “one anothers.” Love one another. Teach one another. Confess your sins to one another. Forgive one another. We are a resurrection community. We are Easter people. God brings new life and freedom through us!