Article December 5, 1936 Issue

"Lazarus, come forth"

LYMAN S. ABBOTT

Before he uttered the momentous words, "Lazarus, come forth," Jesus required those who were with him to take the stone from the door of the tomb. In this simple act there is a lesson for all Christian Scientists. Note that Jesus did not remove the stone himself, but directed those who believed Lazarus to be dead to remove the stone. May not the stone represent the imprisoning belief of life in matter and its corollary, death in matter, "the last enemy" which is to be destroyed, the belief which all must overcome in order to prove that life is spiritual and eternal?

In the detailed record of many healings Jesus demanded something of the one healed. The man with the withered hand was required to stretch it forth, "and it was restored whole, like as the other." At the pool of Bethesda, Jesus said to the man "which had an infirmity thirty and eight years," "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk." He instructed the ten lepers to go and show themselves to the priests, and as they went they were cleansed.

What does the call, "Lazarus, come forth," mean to us? Is it not a call to spiritual activity, a call to set aside the false beliefs of sin, disease, and death, to realize that we are free, and to proclaim the gospel of healing to all mankind? When Lazarus came forth from the tomb, he was still wrapped in the winding sheet customary in eastern burials, "and his face was bound about with a napkin." Jesus said to those who were with him, "Loose him, and let him go." Many today need to be loosed from the graveclothes of false thinking and to be released from the napkin of material beliefs which have blinded their eyes to their divine heritage as sons and daughters of God. Only through willingness to give up material beliefs can one have that spiritual discernment which will enable him to detect the errors of mortal belief, destroy them utterly, and thus free him from the false arguments of life and intelligence in matter.

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