And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him and let him go. John 11:44
Among the amazing medical stories that are being made possible these days with advanced technologies was a recent account of a man who had been in an apparent brain-dead condition since being injured in an accident more than ten years ago. In an attempt to communicate with the man, doctors connected monitoring equipment to his brain and asked him a question, was he in pain. They told him that if he was in pain to think of the colour red. But if he was not in pain, he was to think of the colour blue. With their equipment, they were able to determine that the man was thinking of the colour blue. This was a great leap forward in the case of a man who had been physically alive but had not been able to communicate with anyone for more than a decade. He was like Lazarus after Jesus brought him back from the dead, but before those at the graveside delivered him from the graveclothes.
It took no miracle to remove the graveclothes and untie the napkin. But it had to be done. Notice that Jesus assigned this task to others; He did not perform this act Himself. He does the same today, after a precious soul is reached and saved by the power of God. Like the good Samaritan who instructed the innkeeper to take good care of the injured man, the Lord commits the care of new believers into the hands of His people. New believers left to themselves might well be like a bound Lazarus, alive but unable to function. They need to be unbound from the graveclothes of old habits and companions. Like Lazarus whose napkin would prevent him from seeing, hearing, and speaking, they need to have their eyes opened to see the wonders of the blessings of God’s Word, their mouths unstopped so they can worship and praise their Lord and their ears opened to the fellowship of the Lord’s people. New believers are in need of encouragement, teaching, and guidance, and this great task Jesus delegates to others. He delegates it to us, actually.
What is our responsibility when it comes to new Christians? We need to first of all be an example of what God wants a Christian to be like. The new child of God will learn far more from what we are than from what we say. But what we say should be that which will build up and develop the new believer in our most holy faith. Much of what new believers become in their Christian life depends on how well other Christians deliver them from their graveclothes. -Jim MacIntosh