"Lazarus, Come": 3 Calls Jesus Is Making to Your Life

Introduction

There are evenings when you carry a tomb inside you. Something has died (a relationship, a dream, a hope, an inner peace), and you no longer know where to start again. That evening, in a packed church, the Italian pastor Alfredo RINALDINI, invited to France for the first time with his wife from the church in Bari, opens his Bible to John 11. He doesn't want to talk about Martha, or the well-known dialogues. He takes you by the hand and leads you elsewhere: into the tomb where Lazarus has been shut in for four days. There, he says, Jesus speaks not a sermon, but a name (perhaps yours), and gives you three very specific calls. Three personal calls the Holy Spirit prepared for this evening. And he is certain of one thing: someone will answer one of them.

Message Outline

1. The context: the preacher and the story of Lazarus

• Alfredo RINALDINI shares his own story: originally from Naples, he lived "almost everything you see in the series Gomorrah": alcohol, drugs, drug dealing, theft. A good son by day, something else by night.
• At 19, one of his closest friends is kidnapped, tortured, and killed. From that night on: fear of death, anguish, panic, insomnia.
• He remembers the words of his Christian mother and prays one simple prayer: "If it's true that you exist, do something for me." In an instant, Jesus enters his life and sets him free. Thirty seconds of prayer, twenty years later, he serves God.
• That evening, he chooses to read John 11:1-17, then 38-46. Three passages, three calls from Jesus addressed to Lazarus shut in the tomb, and to you.

2. First call: the call to closeness

• The first aspect of this personal call of Jesus, Alfredo calls "the call to closeness."
• Standing before the tomb sealed by a great stone, despite the doubts and unbelief of the two sisters, Jesus speaks the name of the dead man, Lazarus, then the word come.
• "This word can be translated as come, since it's a verb, but it can also be translated as here, since it's an adverb of place," he explains. Jesus doesn't just say "come out." He says: Lazarus, here, near me.
• Lazarus was inside, Jesus was outside. The call isn't first a call to leave the tomb: it's a call to draw near, to be closer to Jesus.
• "When you draw near, things start to change. Often your tombs, your fears, your problems, your afflictions are simply the fruit of your distance from God."
• He recalls the story of Hagar in Genesis: driven into the desert with her son, with no work, no future, she sits down and prays not to watch her child die. At that exact moment, the angel of the Lord appears beside her. She wanted to flee; God, for his part, drew near. "When you're close to God, things change."
• And on the cross, Jesus himself experienced a moment of distance from the Father ("My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"), so that you and I could draw near to his presence this evening.

3. Second call: the call to restoration

• The second most beautiful thing in the miracle of Lazarus's resurrection, Alfredo says, is the timing. Remember just one phrase: one day's walk. Just one.
• Lazarus lived in Bethany. Jesus was beyond the Jordan. One day's walk separated the two. Without WhatsApp, news takes time.
• When the family realizes nothing more can be done, they send for Jesus. One day's walk to get there. According to commentators, Lazarus was probably already dead a few hours before the news reached Jesus.
• And here's the astonishing thing: Jesus decides to wait two more days before setting out. Total: three more days after the death.
• Why? Because Lazarus had to reach a specific point. In Jewish culture, the body began to decompose after several days; the fourth day marked the point of no return. When Jesus arrives, Martha says it plainly: "Lord, by this time he stinks, for he has been dead four days."
• Jesus let Lazarus reach the point of stinking. And only then does he speak his name, call him to draw near, and his body is restored. Life and flesh return in an instant.
• This is the call to restoration: a call to restore what is destroyed, ruined, decomposed. A call to go back to an earlier stage, before things get worse.
• "For God, there is no point of no return. For God, the phrase there's nothing more that can be done doesn't exist. God can restore hearts, lives, families, marriages."
• Even if you can already smell the stench, even if your situation has begun its process of decay, Jesus is able to put everything back in place. When everyone else says nothing more can be done, God always has the last word.

4. Third call: the call to freedom

• Jesus calls him personally. He calls him to draw near. He calls him to come out. Then, finally, he calls him to be free.
• When the dead man comes out of the tomb, he is still wrapped: his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, his face covered with a cloth. Jesus then says: "Free him, and let him go."
• A command. An authority. A single word that, in an instant, frees the hands, the feet, the head. A single word that turns a bound, wrapped dead man into a man who is finally free.
• "A single word from Jesus can give true freedom."
• There may be situations still binding your life. Maybe your hands (you'd like to do something and you can't). Maybe your feet, you'd like to walk in God's ways and you can't. Sometimes even your mind is bound, like the head of Lazarus.
• Tonight, Jesus is addressing a call to freedom to you. Men and women completely free to worship him, free to serve him, free to seek and fulfill his glory.
• "If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:36)
• And that freedom came at a price. On the cross, Jesus (the King of glory, the Son of God), gave up his own freedom. Not strips of cloth, but nails that held his hands, like those of Lazarus, and his feet. Not a cloth wrapped around his head, but a crown of thorns. He chose to give up his freedom so that, in his name, you and I could be completely free tonight.

Key Takeaways

• Before saying "come out," Jesus says "come": the first call is a call to draw near, not just to leave your tomb.
• Many of your tombs, fears, and problems are first the fruit of distance from God. Closeness changes things.
• When God waits, he doesn't forget you: he's waiting for the exact moment when only a miracle can speak. For him, there is no point of no return.
• God can restore what you consider finished: a heart, a life, a family, a marriage. "There's nothing more that can be done" isn't part of his vocabulary.
• Jesus doesn't just bring you back to life. He calls you to freedom: hands, feet, mind. A single word from him is enough to loosen what's bound.
• Your freedom was paid for: on the cross, Jesus gave up his own so that yours could be complete.

Personal Application

1. In what area of your life is Jesus telling you tonight "come," not "change first" but "draw near" just as you are?
2. If you're honest, do some of your tombs, fears, or conflicts come from a growing distance from God these past months? What, specifically, has pulled you away?
3. Is there a situation you've filed under "point of no return" (a heart, a family, a marriage, a friendship) that you'd like to bring to God tonight, even if "it already stinks"?
4. What strips of cloth are you still wearing even though Jesus has already called you out of the tomb: bound hands (an action you don't dare take), bound feet (a step you're not taking), a bound mind (a thought that keeps circling)?
5. If Jesus gave up his freedom for you, what "freedom" of your own are you willing to give up this week to answer him: a habit, an attachment, an image of yourself?

Scripture References

• John 11:1-17 (WEB)
• John 11:38-46 (WEB)
• John 8:36 (WEB)
• Genesis 21:14-19 (Hagar in the desert, WEB)
• Matthew 27:46 (WEB)

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the preacher put so much weight on the word "come" rather than "come out"?

Alfredo RINALDINI explains that the Greek word behind "come" can be translated both as a verb (come) and as an adverb of place (here). So Jesus isn't just saying "Lazarus, come out of the tomb": he's saying "Lazarus, here, near me." This matters deeply to him, because it changes the nature of the call. Jesus isn't first calling someone to leave a place; he's calling them to draw near to a person. Many of our tombs, fears, and afflictions aren't first a problem of circumstances, but a problem of distance from God. Drawing near is already the beginning of things changing.

Why did Jesus wait instead of coming right away to heal Lazarus?

The preacher asks the question plainly: if Jesus wanted to raise him, he could have come at once, Lazarus was already dead. Why wait two more days? Because Lazarus had to reach a specific point. In Jewish culture, the fourth day marked the point of no return, which is why Martha says: "Lord, by this time he stinks." God doesn't delay because he forgets you. Sometimes he waits until your situation is humanly declared hopeless, so the miracle can be credited to nothing and no one but him. "For God, there is no point of no return."

How do I know which of Jesus's three calls I need to answer tonight?

Alfredo RINALDINI says he is certain at least one person will answer one of the three calls. Ask yourself where you stand: does your life resemble a tomb sealed by distance from God (the call to closeness)? Are you carrying a "decayed" situation you've stopped bringing to God (the call to restoration)? Or have you received life but are still walking bound (hands, feet, mind), not daring to live in full freedom (the call to freedom)? The Holy Spirit puts his finger on the call that concerns you. Your answer can fit in one very short prayer: Alfredo's, in Naples, lasted thirty seconds.