Because Of The Resurrection Part II: Take Off The Grave Clothes
Download MP3Welcome to a place of peace, hope, and divine encouragement. This is Joy In Every Step with your host, beloved preacher, retired teacher, and faithful faithful servant of the Lord, Sarita Bernadette. Each week, Sarita shares heartfelt messages rooted in the Word of God, filled with wisdom, joy, and the gentle reminder that God cares deeply for you. Whether you're walking through the valleys or dancing on the mountaintops, Sarita's voice will guide you back to his promises step by step. So open your heart, settle your spirit, and
Sarita Berndatte:Hi, I'm Sarita Bernadette and welcome back to another episode of Joy In Every Step. I'm glad you're here. Last week we focused on the resurrection, specifically the events that took place during the forty days afterward when Jesus appeared to his followers. Jesus showed up to prove who he was to his disciples and other doubters, but also to comfort those who were grieving his death. We emphasized the fact that the resurrection wasn't the end, it was the beginning.
Sarita Berndatte:The resurrection offered us redemption and eternal life. It also signaled an opportunity to live spiritually renewed lives in Christ. First Peter one and three: Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. By his great mercy, he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. New birth, living hope.
Sarita Berndatte:We as believers are called to walk in a new way of life. We leave fear, bad habits, and self centered decision making behind, and we choose to follow the path that the Lord has laid out for us. Given the resurrection and what it means to us, why do we struggle so intensely with letting go of past sins? Why do we have such a hard time forgiving ourselves for mistakes and missteps? Why is that, beloved?
Sarita Berndatte:I recently told a friend about a revelation I had many years ago, and that is, if I continue to carry guilt and shame over my past, it's like I'm refusing to accept the forgiveness offered through the finished work of the cross. Salvation is a gift. Salvation means deliverance from sin and spiritual darkness. It's liberation from the bondage of our past. It's up to us to accept it.
Sarita Berndatte:Grace, right? It's up to us to accept the gift of grace and walk in the newness of life. We take off the old and put on the new. We take off the grave clothes. We discard that which had us bound or dead in sin.
Sarita Berndatte:That phrase take off the grave clothes comes from a biblical command found in John 11. You may recall Lazarus. He was a dear friend of Jesus. He was the brother of Mary and Martha. And the eleventh chapter of John opens with the sisters sending a message to Jesus telling him, Lord, he whom you love is ill.
Sarita Berndatte:Jesus hears this and says in verse four, This illness does not lead to death rather, it is for God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it. Jesus is telling those around him that this illness will not end the way others have. God will get the glory out of this one. And he remains where he is for two more days. Verses 11 through 15 tell us something significant about this chapter in the ministry of Jesus.
Sarita Berndatte:Verse 11: After saying this, he told them, 'Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am there am going there to awaken him. The disciples said to him, Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right. Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought he was referring merely to sleep. Verse 14, Then Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus is dead. For your sake, I am glad I was not there so that you may believe.
Sarita Berndatte:But let us go to him. Jesus confirms the death of Lazarus and he signals something big to the disciples. A miracle is about to take place and he lets them know that it's all going as planned. You see, Jesus knows resurrecting Lazarus will be a great demonstration of his divine power, and doing so in front of the disciples will strengthen their faith. He will be more than a healer of the sick.
Sarita Berndatte:As if that's not enough, he will be the Messiah with power and authority over death. When Jesus arrived at the tomb of Lazarus, there was a stone lying against it. And the sisters were already grieving, Jesus shared in their grief right there. He wept with them. Then the miracle.
Sarita Berndatte:Verse 41: So they took away the stone, and Jesus looked upward and said, Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me. I have to pause there, beloved, because Jesus prays with such confidence. And I know what you're thinking, well, he's the Son of God. Yes, that's true.
Sarita Berndatte:But the Bible tells us repeatedly that he's our brother. We are adopted into the family of God. We're joint heirs with Christ. Shouldn't we pray with that same kind of confidence? We should know that God always hears us.
Sarita Berndatte:Isaiah sixty five and twenty four reads, Before they call, I will answer. While they are yet speaking, I will hear. Jesus was setting an example for us. Verse 43: When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come out!' The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, Unbind him and let him go.
Sarita Berndatte:Lazarus comes out of the tomb. And just picture this. He must have been shuffling or hopping or even stumbling, right? The Message version of this verse 44 says, He came out a cadaver wrapped from head to toe and with a kerchief over his face. First of all, a cadaver is a corpse.
Sarita Berndatte:Yes. And so Lazarus was dead, but here he is coming out fully wrapped head to toe or bound. He's coming out from that tomb, and he's wearing his grave clothes. Jesus commands that they unbind him and let him go. The grave clothes represent old habits, fear, unforgiveness, low esteem, and sinful patterns that tend to separate us from God.
Sarita Berndatte:Taking them off allows us to live our lives free of the things that held us back or had us bound. Lazarus was alive when he emerged from that cage, when he finally came out. But his movement was limited by what he was wrapped in. Jesus called him out, and then he called for those present to help him get free. That's what friends are for.
Sarita Berndatte:Beloved, there are going to be times when we need some help. Lazarus wasn't able to free himself from those grave clothes. He needed some others to help him out. We need the support of the faith community and sometimes a good therapist to help us get free of what has us bound. We need those assigned to help us because often they can see the things that we can't.
Sarita Berndatte:We may have places where we're blind or blind spots. Yes, blind spots. Places where we're weak. Old habits, behaviors, distorted mindsets and perceptions and beliefs. Joyce Meyer calls that stinking thinking.
Sarita Berndatte:All of that holds us back. Taking it off requires that we rely on the word of God and godly support. Now, we're clear that only the Lord can give us new life, but others sure can help us come out of our grave clothes. And we ought to welcome that help when it comes, whether it be in the form of correction, yes, reprimand even, or a word of encouragement or exhortation, whatever it is, be open to the help that God sends. Beloved, we should be willing to ask for support when we need it and in turn offer assistance when we see a brother or a sister trying to get free.
Sarita Berndatte:And let's be real, we have to work to maintain our freedom. Maintaining deliverance requires action. Ephesians four twenty two-twenty four tells us To put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. That instructs us to work at changing. It takes work.
Sarita Berndatte:It's a process, right? Putting away the old way of life takes work. The verse says to clothe yourselves with the new self created according to the likeness of God. We are to be making conscious decisions daily to do life God's way. The Message version of that scripture reads: We do not have the excuse of ignorance.
Sarita Berndatte:Everything, and I do mean everything, connected with that old way of life has to go. It's rotten through and through. Get rid of it, and then take on an entirely new way of life, a God fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you. Wow. Lazarus was wrapped head to toe, head to toe, bound.
Sarita Berndatte:So it may take a minute to unwrap it all, right? This transformation isn't purely about following some rules, it's a spiritual transformation of the mind, a whole new perspective, and a change of heart. Romans six eleven says, So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Consider yourselves, or believe, or trust that sin no longer has the power over you that it once did. We are resurrected in, alive in Christ.
Sarita Berndatte:Now let's circle back to that conversation I told you about earlier, the revelation I had many years ago about continuing to carry guilt and shame over past sins and mistakes and poor decisions. Choosing to ruminate on those is akin to rejecting the greatest sacrifice known to man. It's up to us to accept the forgiveness offered through the finished work of the cross, emphasized here finished. Ephesians two:eight-nine: For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing it is the gift of God, not the result of works, so that no one may boast. It's a gift.
Sarita Berndatte:It's free. You can't earn it, beloved. Jesus paid the cost so we don't have to. Hebrews eight and twelve: For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more. God has forgiven the junk in our past, so all we have to do is forgive ourselves.
Sarita Berndatte:We don't have to carry that. And it may take some time to do that, but we have to do the work and get those grave clothes off. I can't begin to imagine what Lazarus felt like stumbling out of that tomb wrapped from head to toe. And remember, he had a cloth over his face, so he couldn't see either. He was still bound to death and couldn't see where he was going.
Sarita Berndatte:That's the story for many of us. We were living however we were living, and we couldn't see a way out. Then the Lord provided a way for us. He so loved us. We're made righteous through Christ.
Sarita Berndatte:Psalm thirty four and seventeen, when the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and rescues them from all their troubles. He delivers. Take off the grave clothes. Let's go just a bit further into the details of ancient grave clothes. So Jewish custom dictated that before burial, the body of the deceased would be washed and then tightly wrapped in strips of linen mixed with myrrh, a resin, and a blend of aloes, a sweet smelling powder.
Sarita Berndatte:They would place massive amounts there. With this process, there were often up to 75 pounds of the aloes and the myrrh placed between the layers of linen cloth. Sometimes the head would be wrapped separately or simply covered with a cloth. The mixture of spices were intended to combat the smell of the decaying corpse, and the mixture sometimes would form a hard crust like substance around the body. Fascinating, right?
Sarita Berndatte:Well, beloved, there's no mention of the body of Lazarus being wrapped with those spices. Therefore, one can conclude that the smell must have been intense when they opened that tomb. Those grave clothes must have been quite fragrant, and I don't mean that in a good way. John eleven thirty nine says, Jesus said, Take away the stone. Martha, sister of the dead man, said to him, Lord, there is a stench because he has been dead for four days.
Sarita Berndatte:Stench. Unpleasant smell of death. If you're dealing with any spiritual stents stench today, first John one and nine reads, If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That's it. God will take away the stench.
Sarita Berndatte:God has done his part already, and now we have to do ours, right? Because of the resurrection, we have new life. We have a fresh start, beloved. Come out of those grave clothes. Take them off.
Sarita Berndatte:You've been listening to Joy In Every Step. I'm Sarita Bernadette, and I'm grateful you chose to spend some time here with me. Feel free to share this episode with someone you know would appreciate it. You can find Joy In Every Step wherever you listen to your podcasts and give us a follow there. Do check out the website at joyineverystep.org.
Sarita Berndatte:See you next time.
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