Listen! We cannot raise people from the dead as Jesus did, but we share in the deliverance of those he has raised!

Death and what is done about that — is in Jesus’ hand. It is He who can say with power: “Come forth! Come forth from your tomb.”

But deliverance — that’s in our hands. “Unbind him” Jesus said, “unbind him that he might live.”

So, we talk today about the ministry of unbinding.

I

Rehearse the story, so that our focus will be clear and we will not be questioning something that we think has been over looked or left out.

Love is here. Isn’t that a beautiful line in verse 5? “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister, and Lazarus.” Commitment is here. The story is so dramatic in its focus—a man being raised from the dead—that raises our eyebrows at least; it raises the hair on the…