Putrefied in Sin
We reach the end of a heavy week today, with the fifth and final stage of Lazarus's descent in Uncle Bud Robinson's book The Story of Lazarus. We have seen Lazarus sick, dead, bound and entombed. Today, Lazarus has putrefied.
That’s not a pleasant word! But Uncle Bud uses it without apology. The putrefied man is, in his words on page 40, the sinner "in the last stage of sin, just before he drops into the pit of eternal despair." All moral soundness is gone. He writes: "He is now qualified and prepared by the devil to commit any crime that is known to the human family."
Beyond Human Help
We see this in society, don't we? Those who are so deeply entrenched in evil that they seem too far gone.
Uncle Bud points out that when Lazarus first died, you could still handle him - you could wash him, dress him, put decent clothes on him, and he even still looked respectable and dignified in death. But when Jesus arrives at the tomb, He is told: "Lord, by this time there is a bad odour, for he has been there four days." (John 11:39)
This is exactly what happens to the person who has gone deep into sin. There was a time when family could reach them, when a pastor's word might land, when a friend's plea might get through. But now? Hands off. The putrefied man has gone beyond the reach of human help, and you can only keep your distance and pray for God to intervene.
Uncle Bud quotes Isaiah 1:6, where God seems to paint this very picture of those who had rejected Him: "From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness - only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with olive oil." (Isaiah 1:6)
But Jesus Came to Bethany
This is the state of the person who continues to reject God, and continues to ignore the call on his or her life.
Isn't it upsetting?
But the next chapter of Uncle Bud's book is called The First Ray of Hope. And the very next chapter of John 11, after four days in the tomb, is the arrival of Jesus.
Because even though Lazarus had putrefied, Jesus came to Bethany anyway.
Even the person who has pushed God so far away that their sin has begun to cause them to decay spiritually - even that person is not without hope yet!
Next week we will see the glorious rest of the story.
For today, pray. Pray for the people you know who are sick with sin, or dead in sin as they reject God, bound in sin, entombed and starting to putrefy. It might even be yourself you are praying for.
Pray that just as Jesus came and led Lazarus out of that deep grave, He will do the same for those you are praying for.
Sin, left unchecked, always produces the same result - a soul corrupted beyond recognition. But even here, at rock bottom, Jesus came to save.