John 11: Cemetery Words (7) Remove The Stone

As Jesus stood with the family and mourners at the tomb Lazarus He was overcome with emotion again (vs. 38). Here is the great commiseration again. God from the great, gleaming glory above, who came to live with us in dirty, weak, corrupted world. 

When Jesus said, “Remove the stone” (vs. 38), He was reminded of just how corrupted and even smelly this world is. Martha said, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days” (vs. 39). Yes, Jesus knew about the corrupted and putrid flesh of the dead, just as He knew of the corrupted and putrid spirits of those in sin. 

We are given this assurance by the apostle Peter: “He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust” (2 Pet. 1:4). 

From corruption to glory! In the gospel, there is the great spiritual hope of the transformation of our soul and the great bodily hope of the resurrection to a state suitable for eternity with God. Those present at the cemetery were about to see a foretaste of that as Jesus said, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” (vs. 40).