Grave Clothes

The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off his grave clothes and let him go.”

~ John 11:44

We are undergoing a life-long process of being unwrapped from our grave clothes. Fully embalmed in layers of sin, Jesus finds us and saves us from death. The unraveling process, a testament to his patience and love, takes quite some time. In my case, I imagine Jesus will continue to painstakingly remove the layers until the person he intended is finally and fully revealed. I expect it will be no different for you.

The enemy of our souls would have had it that we remain bound, but Jesus is commanding that our grave clothes – all the former things that bound us, all that was attached to our death – be removed.

But we have to die first.

Coming to a place of death is necessary before being called out of the grave. It requires coming to the end of ourselves so that God can snatch us from hell’s death grip. We trade death rags for robes of eternal life. In Galatians 2:20, Paul explains, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Jesus is leading us away from the dead places, removing the remnants and stench of death and exchanging it for eternal life. 

But he had to die first.

My life, and yours, came at a cost. Jesus took on all the sins of the world and hung on a cross until death to save me – to save you. He suffered so we wouldn’t have to. He died, a substitute in our place.

But it didn’t end there. After three days, Jesus rose again, defeating death. Because of his glorious resurrection, death is defeated in our own life. By declaring Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life and choosing to follow Him, when your physical body dies, you will live in heaven. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

So don’t be alarmed if you spot linen rags trailing behind you or one or two detached bits on the ground. It’s merely Jesus’ continuous handiwork, stripping you of the past to give you a future and hope (Jeremiah 29:11) and a display of his unending love for you.

May you allow Jesus’ loving touch to remove the weight of unnecessary things and bring you to life.