Bible Study With The Bishops: Come Out!

Reading Plan Text for May 2: John 11:33-44

I really am with “some of them [the Jews]” when they say

Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying? (11:37)

Then we watch as Jesus, in a scene that foreshadows his own resurrection, has the stone rolled away from the tomb. He says a prayer to God and then shouts “Lazarus, come out!” (11:43)

Come out!

Most lesbian and gay people can not read those words and feel their power. Those of us who have lived “in the closet” know how life crushing that can be. For some, it is so deadly that it leads to physical death, often by suicide. The pressure to stay in the tomb created for us by society is immense. So to hear Jesus’ shout is liberating.

Come out!

But even after we leave the tomb, like Lazarus, we are fettered by some very vocal segments of society. We cannot do it alone. Jesus’ words to those gathered at the tomb are just as relevant to those around us:

Unbind him, and let him go. (11:44)

Let them go.

Let them live in the fullness of life. Let them be fully human.

To us Jesus says

Come out!

To you Jesus says

Let them go.

Peace,
Jeffri