Jesus Loves to Delegate: The Tombstone and the Graveclothes
Jesus loves to Delegate: The Tombstone and the Graveclothes.
“God could, if He chose, repair our bodies miraculously without food, or give us food without the aid of framers, bakers and butchers; or knowledge without the aid of learned teachers; or convert the heathen without missionaries. Instead, God allows soils and weather and animals and the muscles, minds and will of humanity to cooperate in the exercise of His will. For He seems to do nothing of Himself which He can possibly delegate to His creatures. He commands us to do slowly and blunderingly what he could do perfectly and in the twinkling of an eye. He allows us to neglect what He would have us do, He allows us to fail. Enabling finite free wills to co-exist with Omnipotence seems to involve at every moment almost a sort of divine abdication.” (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity).
I believe in an almighty God who shares His power. I believe in a Ruler of the universe who happily delegates authority. I believe in an omnipotent Lord who is perfectly willing to share the workload. I believe in a God who delights in welcoming His followers to participate in His miracles. The all-powerful God of the Bible has never wanted to hoard power, He has never developed an insatiable thirst for keeping all the authority to Himself.
The Almighty sharing power… the Sovereign Ruler distributing authority… the unthinkably strong and independent Lord sharing the workload. What does this tell us about the character of our God? The humility of God is astounding, and His wisdom is matchless. Only God could understand how important it is to strengthen and empower the powerless likes us mere mortals. God knows that delegating to us gives us a vote of His confidence in our capabilities; it enables us to develop our giftedness and grow in our abilities; it gives us a stake in His work in the world; it enables us to participate with Him in His miraculous care of His world; it reveals to us that He trusts us to do His assignments; it provides a tangible way for us to experience the satisfaction of accomplishing great things for Him and others; it provides joyful and challenging things to do that is meaningful; it allows us to have part ownership in His plans and actions. God’s plan of delegating authority and sharing His power is the best possible plan for us to mature in the power and authority of Christ.
Like Father, like Son, since Jesus was a perfect delegator Himself. We observe all through the gospels that Jesus excelled in delegation, and He was happy to enjoy the same leadership style as the Father. For all the reasons listed above, Jesus loved to ask his followers to participate in His work and ministry. He enabled His disciples to share responsibilities and take some ownership of God’s mission to extend His Kingdom. If He wasn’t sending them out to heal, preach and cast out demons, He was asking the friends of Lazarus to roll way the stone of his grave. If He wasn’t telling Peter to go fishing for the Temple tax with his fishing pole, He was asking those nearby the risen Lazarus to unbind his grave clothes. Sometimes Jesus would assign the disciples the task of finding some lunch in a nearby village, while another time it appears He wanted his disciples to do the work of multiplying the fish and bread out in the middle of nowhere. Jesus asked the servants at the Cana wedding to fill up all those water jars, while another time He politely asked a couple of disciples to “go fetch” the donkey for His triumphant ride into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. He seemed to especially enjoy giving orders to His fishermen friends, directing them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat or go out deeper into the water. Jesus loved to share the workload with His followers, for their betterment, for the sense of partnership, and for whatever needed to be done.
“When Jesus looked at Mary and saw her weeping at His feet, and at all her friends who were with her grieving, a deep anger (embrimaomai) welled up within Him, and Jesus was deeply troubled (“tarasso”).” (John 11:33).
“embrimaomai” = a Greek word that is rooted in the snorting sound of an agitated horse; this word has been translated many ways, including deeply moved in spirit, profound indignation, greatly distressed, a deep groan, a profound sigh, an emotional shudder, stirred with deep anger. The Aramaic for this verse includes, instead of anger, literally, “His heart melted with compassion.” Much has been said about the Greek idea of Jesus being angry at this scene. Certainly, Jesus was angry at the devil for bringing misery and death to the world, for introducing sickness and suffering into the human experience. Angry perhaps that His beloved creation, the people made in God’s image, had to go through the experience of death. Maybe He was even angry that Lazarus had to go through death in order for Jesus to prove that He is “the Resurrection and the Life,” and that Lazarus’ death and resurrection was needed to get the ball rolling for His own impending Passion.
As recorded in John 11, Jesus received word that His close friend Lazarus was deathly sick in his home town of Bethany. Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha, were very close friends of Jesus, and so this news certainly troubled Jesus. But He decided to stay where He was for a couple of days. Jesus saw a timely opportunity to make a big statement, and unfortunately He needed Lazarus to die to make it. Finally, on the fourth day after His friend’s death, Jesus and His disciples arrive in Bethany, which is only two miles from Jerusalem. Jesus first had conversations with both sisters about Lazarus and their understandable grief. Both Mary and Martha wondered why Jesus delayed in coming. Both women believe in Jesus, and that He has the spiritual power to do great things. Jesus told them not to worry about Lazarus. He told them that He is the resurrection and the life. He has power over death and is the source of everlasting life. Jesus then leads the mourners to the tomb holding the dead body of Lazarus. He offers a prayer within the hearing of everyone in attendance. a word of thanks to the Father for what is about to happen. Jesus then shouts, with authority, “Lazarus! Come out!” Miracle of miracles, after the stone is rolled away, Lazarus does indeed walk out of the tomb, alive. Human death is no match for Jesus’ life. It wasn’t long before Lazarus’ burial clothes were taken off, and he returned to something like a normal life. But of course, Lazarus was never the same again.
Troubled Waters. Every so often, we get to observe a more passionate side of Jesus’ human emotions. Jesus reveals many times in the gospels that He is in total union with the human story. The Son of God was fully human. He was recorded in the gospels as being deeply moved with anger, with compassion, with joy, with zeal, and, as a man of many sorrows, was known to be in absolute agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. The Lazarus story is certainly one of those times. When speaking with Mary, Jesus was deeply moved. The various translations have Jesus groaning deeply, sighing profoundly, shuddering in distress, stamping His feet in anger like an agitated horse, greatly distressed in His spirit, a wave of indignant anger. John records in verse 33 that Jesus was also “troubled.” The Greek word there was “tarasso,” and is rooted in the idea of calm waters being stirred up. Jesus had a calm spirit, but in this Lazarus situation it was stirred up. He became disturbed in His mind, agitated when he was usually calm. And of course, there is in this scene the famous verse, “Jesus wept.” Jesus literally had tears of grief and distress flowing down His cheeks. There is no question that Jesus felt deep human emotions, and He wasn’t afraid to express them.
Burial Customs. In the orthodox Jewish world of the first century, it was forbidden to embalm a dead body. Instead, they anointed the body with fragrant spices to keep the body smelling fresh for as long as possible. They would wrap the body in white cotton cloth from neck to feet, and place a large handkerchief over the face. They would keep the wrapped body in a tomb for eleven months. By that time, there would be nothing but bones. And they would place the bones in a burial box and put that box on a shelf in the tomb. The Jews believed that a person’s spirit hovered over the dead body for 3-4 days following death. At that point, the body would start to deteriorate. Who knows… maybe the spirit of Lazarus had still remained over the body, and that was how he was able to respond to Jesus’ command to rise from the dead. Just another mystery about death.
Jesus Delegates: “Roll Away the Stone”. Jesus could have rolled away the stone Himself, or just call on a battalion of angels to do the heavy lifting. But Jesus wanted the people nearby to participate in this profound miracle. Lazarus couldn’t have gone anywhere, literally, without the removal of the tombstone blocking the way to the outside world. This causes us to think about how we can help roll away the stone of a new believer in order to begin the resurrection life in Jesus. What might be blocking this new believer right at the start, keeping him trapped somehow to the confinement and darkness of his old life? Maybe it’s the stone of inexperience, because the new believer doesn’t have any experience in the Christian life and needs a lot of guidance. The guidance needs to include, of course, a faith community, a worshipping Christ-centered church that points its members to the Scriptures for life guidance in the Faith. Or maybe it’s the stone of unrealistic expectations, when someone thinks it’s a mountaintop high every day without the need of self-denial. Or maybe it’s the stone of independence, in which the new believer who is accustomed to a large measure of independence and self-reliance is slow to realize that in order to get out of the darkness and confinement of the old life there needs to be a growing dependence on the Holy Spirit and the presence of God, on the regular study of Holy Scripture, on the family of faith surrounding him and supporting him. Roll away the tombstone, and the new believer can begin his new life and start the process of following Jesus.
Jesus Delegates: “Unbind Him!” After Lazarus stumbled into the daylight from the darkness of the tomb, Jesus made an interesting remark. It was more or less a command. He told the people around the tomb to unbind Lazarus, loose him from his grave clothes. Take off those bandages of death, Jesus instructed, so he can live his new life in freedom. Unwrap those vestiges of death and decay, and let him go free. That seems a clear picture of how we can minister to new believers, to each other. This isn’t just a command regarding new believers, but also those of us who still have remnants of our former life hanging on to our new life. Actually, none of us are above the need to be unbound. The unbinding process for all of us a lifetime process. We can, with Christ’s guidance and the support of our faith family, loosen those parts of the old life that need to be taken off. We can unwrap that which is keeping each other from seeing the light of day, from walking free in the Spirit. An important part of wise counseling is to be able to discern those aspects of a person’s life that is holding a person back, that need to be taken off and left behind, those parts of a believer’s life that keeps him from seeing Jesus clearly enough to follow Him in faith. Maybe it’s the stubborn thorn of an identity that is difficult to let go of, or maybe a generational family pattern, an addiction, an obsession, a hurtful habit, a grievous wound that needs inner healing, an attitude that was a trait learned from our sinful world, an attitude that needs changing to break free. Perhaps a recovery program of some sort would be helpful in this unbinding process. Unwrap this person, Jesus is saying, and help him live his new life. Take off the old death rags and give him a new set of clothes.
“Clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 13:14).
Take off, Put On. After friends of the new believer, who has just seen the light of day, has had his graveclothes taken off, nakedness is not an option. So there must be a whole new set of clothes put on to replace the “dead man’s clothes” that are now removed and on the ground. Christians have a holy garment to put on. We put on Christ, we wear garments of His Presence. Faith indeed has a uniform. Following Jesus is like putting on a whole new wardrobe, a new set of clothes. We are now wearing Christ, we have a new identity, a different look, a new style that reflects our heart’s desire. Following Jesus means we are now clothed in a different line, we have a new fashion designer. We have changed wardrobe consultants, and we are now covered in a new garment, a robe of righteousness. We have put on God’s goodness as our garment, and righteousness as our covering. Our new uniform reflects a right standing with God, as well as a pursuit of what pleases God out of our response to His love. Our new wardrobe now reflects God’s nature and character as He transforms us from within. We are now clothed in Christ, displaying the very virtues of God, reflecting a state of righteousness offered through the grace of Jesus. Our uniform has an identity. We want to identify ourselves with Christ. We want our clothes to reflect our faith, and our high praise echoes Isaiah: “I delight greatly in the Lord, my soul rejoices in my God. For He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with jewels.” (Isaiah 61:10).
When we clothe ourselves in Jesus, what is our spiritual fashion statement? “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” (Colossians 3:10-12, NIV).