“We are made for community and are healed in community.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – October 16, 2025
Jesus, once again deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.“Take away the stone,” Jesus said.
“Lord, by now he stinks,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man. “It has already been four days.”
Jesus replied, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
So they took away the stone. Then Jesus lifted His eyes upward and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me, but I say this for the benefit of the people standing here, so they may believe that You sent Me.”
After Jesus had said this, He called out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
The man who had been dead came out with his hands and feet bound in strips of linen, and his face wrapped in a cloth.
“Unwrap him and let him go,” Jesus told them. John 11:38-44
I recently heard a pastor make a fascinating observation about the story of Jesus raising Lazarus. Though it is our Lord alone who initiates and empowers this miraculous act, the pastor pointed out the way in which Jesus invites Lazarus’ community into the process of healing. “They took away the stone.” “(You!) unwrap him and let him go.” This is the normative pattern of how our Lord heals, transforming not simply a single life in isolation but through an act of healing, bringing restoration to an entire community.
Interestingly, woven into this story of healing is the reminder of Christ’s own abiding life of community, existing in perfect love with the Father and the Spirit. It is from his trinitarian existence that we encounter the truth of our own communal design. We are made for community and are healed in community.
When we think of sin, we often minimize this communal dimension. We can think of sin as a private affair only between us and God or between us and one or two other people. And yes, it is true that we alone can repent of our personal sins. No one can repent on our behalf, and we cannot repent for someone else’s sins. However, we must always realize the ways in which our personal actions shape and impact the communities in which we live.
If we give in to a spirit of negativity, it sows seeds of criticism and complaint in others and creates an environment in which this spirit can thrive. Or, when we lash out in anger toward someone we love, we inflict a wound upon their heart and soul that they then carry with them wherever they go, shaping and impacting their interactions with others. The impact of sin can spread like a virus, and so when Jesus came to heal and redeem the world, he came to free us from every impact of sin. We cannot underestimate the ways in which sin has sickened our hearts and lives, yet, thanks be to God, we can never overestimate the depths of his love for us and the totality of healing that he came to bring and continues to pour out upon everyone who responds to his call.
Prayer
Father, heal and transform every part of our lives and communities that are impacted by the fall, that we may be free to know and love you as you have made us to be, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Application
Reflect on the communal dimension of God’s healing work of love, and consider ways in which your personal actions impact and shape the community around you.
Related Reading
Ecclesiastes 4:9–10; Galatians 6:2; James 5:16
Worship Resource
Christy Nockels: By Our Love
Donate
If you are blessed by these daily devotionals please prayerfully consider a donation to support Wisdom Hunters Resources. We are trusting the Lord for His provision.
Download our app!
