And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go."
Jesus made Lazarus come alive again. But when he was raised, he was still bound in the graveclothes. Jesus said Lazarus needed to be loosed and set free.
Is this not also a picture of baptism and absolution? Jesus raises us up from the death of sin. He makes us alive. But we are still wrapped up in the sinful flesh from which we need to be set free. So Jesus tells His apostles and pastors,
"What ye shall bind, that bound shall be.
What ye shall loose, that shall be free.
Unto My Church the keys are given
to ope and close the gates of heaven.
When ministers lay on their hands
absolved by Christ the sinner stands." (TLH 331)
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