Lazarus Come Forth! (Lazzaro Vieni Fuori!)

Italian: «E, detto questo, gridò a gran voce: 'Lazzaro, vieni fuori!'» (Giovanni 11:43, LND)

English: "Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come forth!'" (John 11:43, NKJ)

Have you ever been in a desperate situation where you needed God to step in right away or else something tragic would happen in your life? And were you discouraged because God didn't intervene just then? But... Did God do something you didn't expect that winded up fixing your situation anyway in a manner that let's say... Blew your mind? Well this is basically what happens here in Giovanni, John, chapter eleven.

Jesus had heard that his friend Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, was sick. And the two sisters were expecting Him to come and heal Lazarus. But Jesus, decided to use the situation to stretch their faith. So he waited until Lazarus was fully dead before showing up.

When he arrived on the scene, they thought Jesus was late. But He assured everyone that they yet needed to believe and all would be well. He knew that neither healing from sickness or la risurrezione, resurrection, from the dead, was too hard for Him. For He Himself was la Risurrezione e la Vita, the Resurrection and the Life. There was no need to fear or be sad, because God was about to work in their midst.

But... in order for Lazarus' family to see this miracle, they would have to not just have faith, but demonstrate their faith by their actions

So the first thing Jesus told them to do was to remove the stone that was in front of Lazarus grave. Martha's response, however, showed she still had some doubts. Egli puzza già, she responded. He already stinks. (The Italian word puzza, sounds like the perfect word to describe something that stinks.) But they stepped up their faith and rolled away the stone as instructed.

Jesus responded and cried out, Lazarus come forth! What a word of power. The Italian Bible uses the phrase, Lazzaro Vieni Fuori! This means, Lazarus come outside. Lazarus was trapped inside a seemingly hopeless and final state. But God's word came that he would be coming outside, into a new place of life.

(On a side note, I have to interject this. I once heard a minister point out that Jesus had to put Lazarus name in front of the command to come forth or outside. Because if he had said just "come forth," every person buried there would have come back to life.)

So Lazarus came back to life and came fuori, outside of his grave. But he was still bound. So Jesus again instructed the people to Scioglietelo e lasciatelo andare, loose him and let him go. Even when God intervenes on our behalf, he still expects us to do our part.

So the people received what they wanted and needed from God, even if though it wasn't done in the way they expected. And in the end, many of those there believed in Christ. This is what ultimately brings glory to God.

Bottom line... When we believe God and step out on His Word (no matter how impossible it seems), not only will we see the miracle working power of God (our dead situations bought back to life), but it will cause others to believe as well.