It may come as a shock to some, but Jesus frequently made use of sarcasm or irony when He addressed mixed crowds; especially when they happened to include the Pharisees! And He was very well “versed” in getting His point across - which greatly infuriated them! In the use of irony or sarcasm one deliberately portrays something in a way that is totally opposite or contrary to that which is true and factual, in an attempt to show the listener (or reader) the folly of their own aggravated thinking. Such was the Pharisee!

But we too, may profit by a selective application of this mode of communication! Here goes!

“Lazarus, come forth!” A confused and disoriented Lazarus hears a voice as it were in a distance calling his name. “Come forth?” Who is calling? Where am I? What am I doing here? Why can I not see? I am bound tightly and unable to move. Come forth? How can I? And I know not the way. . .Fear grips him, were it possible, even tighter than the grave clothes themselves. Is he somehow made alive just to perish again? The napkin wrapped tightly around his face - he cannot breath. And how utterly sickening the putrefying smell of rotting flesh in the napkin. . .He is without strength. Helpless and without hope, he will momentarily be swallowed up again by the jaws of death.

“Lazarus, come forth!“ Who is calling? He would recognize that Voice anywhere! It is the Lord! By the eye of faith he is enabled to see. Is he gripped with fear? Quite the contrary! Christ is the Way, He is the [his] Life; his Peace! And he is just now resting in him! The napkin is wrapped about his face? No matter. Along with the quickening there is breathed into his being the Breath of Life! Shall we assume the residue of corruption to remain lodged in the grave clothes? What grave clothes? They are his “coming out” attire - and they are as fresh as if they just came from the cleaners! Would Jesus have commanded those Jews to “loose him and let him go,” to handle corruption, to defile themselves in the process? How reluctant and unwilling they would have been to touch him! Had the residue of corruption remained, it would give me cause to fear: perhaps in regeneration the residue of my sin remains! Does Christ make one “almost whole?” If so, then does He likewise make one “almost righteous?”

So how did he come forth from the grave? What? Shall the Spirit of Life that quickened him not also deliver him into the Presence of the living Christ? Whether he floated out as some say, I know not. That which is of greater importance is not the “how” but “Who!”

“Loose him and let him go.” Perhaps Jesus used the same method of proof concerning the raising of Lazarus as he did after his own resurrection: “And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” Luke 24:38,39.

He was not subject to the elements - the elements were subject to Him! He came forth from the grave clothes without disturbing them in any way. He came forth from the tomb without disturbing the stone that covered the opening. When Christ arose, neither man nor angel stood by saying, “Take ye away the stone” that Jesus may get out of the tomb! Neither would they have cried, “Jesus, come forth!” Certainly no one said, “Loose Him and let Him go” for the grave clothes remained in the tomb! ( Think not that the remaining grave clothes were anything but pure and white, “without spot or wrinkle!) He entered the room where sat the disciples without disturbing the door: “I AM the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out, and find pasture” John 10:9.

The dead in Christ shall rise first. Can you see, dear reader, the angels in the graveyard with earth-moving equipment? The vault that contains the casket must be brought up first! The seal must be broken on the vault in order that the top be removed, that the casket be removed from the vault. Then a small crank is inserted to unlock the casket. The casket is then opened, the body is brought forth from the casket, and someone says, “loose him and let him go.”

Then we which are alive and remain shall grow weary as we wait for all of the dead in Christ to be brought forth from the grave and awakened, that they may be lifted up and transported into the presence of Christ.

Of course we know this is pure satire! But doesn’t it seem to have a way of magnifying and illuminating the truth, when we lay them along side each other in comparison?

In Ezekiel chapter 37 we find a prophesy: “Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves. . .and ye shall know that I AM the Lord. . .” In Matthew chapter 27 we find the graves were opened - saints came out of their graves! It is after His resurrection! It is given as a sign, a promise of that which the Lord shall do spiritually for Israel at His return. (Lazarus’ grave was opened.) If the graves of the saints were to be “opened” at the resurrection, it will not be for the purpose of releasing the dead from the grave; rather an unexplainable proof to the world that all those graves are empty by reason of resurrection! (Following the pattern of Christ’s resurrection.)

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