‘And when he had thus spoken he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth”. He that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave-clothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus says to them, “Loose him and let him go”.'
What a huge amount can be conveyed in a few words. Jesus looked at the mouth of the cave, with the whole crowd standing there in suspended animation. What was He about to do? And then He acted. He cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out'. And, to the astonishment of all but Jesus, a living man came out of the tomb, bending under the low doorway and still covered in his grave clothes.
Now they saw for themselves that Jesus really is the resurrection and the life. Now they could see ahead to that day when He will once again look at the places of the dead, and cry, ‘Come out', and those who are dead will rise and come to meet Him to have their destinies determined (John 5:28-29). It was stupendous.
‘Bound --- with grave clothes'. Some have carped at the fact that Lazarus could come out if he was so bound, but quite apart from divine help the grave clothes were not tied in order to prevent release (no one anticipated the need) and he could therefore well have wriggled partly loose. But he had woken up in the darkness of the tomb and was probably confused and understandably would not wait to remove them all before emerging, possibly with some difficulty. Nor would he want to emerge naked.
We do not know enough about 1st century burial customs to be sure of what the grave-clothes consisted, but it was normal to bind the arms to the body and to constrain the ankles. The head-cloth (soudarion, borrowed from Latin) would be wound round the head and probably also went below the chin holding the chin from sagging. He possibly also had on a tunic or sheet.
Some have suggested that if Jesus had not named Lazarus personally all the dead would have risen at that moment. The idea is somewhat fanciful, but it contains a germ of truth. For there is no doubt that had Jesus wished to do that, and had His Father been so mindful, that is precisely what would have happened.
The prayer of Jesus was a deliberate way of stressing to the crowds that what He did, He did in the will of His Father. He did not act alone. As ever He and the Father were one. He did not need to pray for He had already done so, and knew that He had His Father's approval, but He wanted the crowds also to know that He acted according to His Father's will. It was, however, His voice that called forth the dead, and now that so many witnessed this, surely they must believe. Now surely all of Jerusalem and Judea must respond to Him. How can they do otherwise? He has proved Himself the Lord of Life before witnesses. But man's deviousness is capable of anything.