Risen Life Day #1: Leaving the 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 the grave clothes and let him go.'” — John 11:44 (NIV)
THE JOURNEY
Sarah had a past that she desperately wanted to forget. For a decade, she had battled severe addiction, leaving a trail of broken relationships, lost jobs, and deep regrets. When she finally hit rock bottom, she found grace. She went through rehab, gave her life to Christ, and experienced a profound, miraculous transformation. She was clean, sober, and genuinely a new creation.
But three years later, Sarah was still living like a prisoner.
Whenever she walked into her church, she immediately slipped into the back row and left before the final song ended. When the pastor asked for volunteers to lead a youth mentoring group, she felt a strong tug in her heart, but she immediately disqualified herself. “They wouldn’t want someone like me,” she thought. “If they knew who I used to be, they would never trust me.” Even though her addiction was completely dead, the shame of her addiction was still dictating her life. She constantly apologized for taking up space. She refused to pursue healthy relationships, convinced she was fundamentally damaged goods.
One Sunday, an older woman named Martha cornered Sarah in the lobby. Martha looked her directly in the eyes and said, “Sarah, Jesus already pulled you out of the tomb. When are you going to stop wearing the outfit you died in?”
Sarah broke down in tears. She realized that while Christ had given her new life, she was still tightly wrapped in the identity of her past. She was a living woman wearing the garments of a dead one. Over the next year, with Martha’s help, Sarah started the painful, intentional work of unwrapping the shame. She joined the leadership team. She shared her testimony. She finally allowed her outside reality to match her inside miracle.
Heart of the Matter
One of the most profound moments in the Gospel of John is the resurrection of Lazarus. Jesus stands outside the tomb and shouts, “Lazarus, come out!” And the impossible happens: a man who has been dead for four days walks out of a stone grave.
But notice the vital detail at the end of the verse. Lazarus is alive, but he is completely bound by strips of linen. He can barely move. He cannot see clearly because a cloth is wrapped around his face. He is resurrected, but he is not yet free.
Many of us are exactly like Lazarus. We have been brought from death to life. We have been forgiven. But we are still wrapped in the grave clothes of our past. We still wear the anxiety, the poverty mindset, the bitter defense mechanisms, or the deep-seated shame that belonged to the old version of us.
Here is the dynamic of the Risen Life:
- You love God by actively participating in the unwrapping. You refuse to let your past dictate your present. You stop identifying yourself by your old sins, your old traumas, or your old failures. You do the hard work of going to therapy, finding community, and renewing your mind to strip off the old habits.
- He loves you back by calling you completely clean. The Risen Life is the realization that the tomb is empty and your debt is paid. God loves you enough to not only call you out of the grave, but to surround you with a community (just as Jesus told the crowd to help unwrap Lazarus) to help you walk in total, unhindered freedom.
Faith in Action
Resurrection is a miracle God performs; unwrapping the grave clothes is a process we must participate in.
The Challenge: Identify one “grave cloth” you are still wearing. What is an old mindset, a coping mechanism, or a source of shame from your past that no longer belongs on a new creation?
- Write it down on a piece of paper (e.g., “I am damaged goods,” “I have to control everything to be safe,” or “I am my past mistakes”).
- Physically cross it out with a dark marker.
- Say out loud: “I am alive, and this no longer fits me. I refuse to wear the clothes of a dead season.”
- Throw the paper in the trash.
Prayer for the Day
Resurrection King, thank You for calling me out of the darkness and into Your marvelous light. I confess that even though You have given me a new life, I often still cling to the familiarity of my old grave clothes. I let shame, fear, and past failures bind me. Today, I ask for the courage to unwrap them. Help me to step fully out of the tomb and leave my old identity behind. Give me the grace to see myself exactly as You see me: forgiven, free, and fully alive. Amen.
VICTORY Note
“You are the only Bible some unbelievers will ever read, and your life is the only evidence they will ever see of an empty tomb.” — John MacArthur