December 29, 2021 — John 11: 38-44 – “Skeleton in the Closet”

“Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” John 11:38-44 

“Skeleton in the closet:” In the United Kingdom, a person’s shameful secrets are kept “in the cupboard” rather than the closet, though the origins of the near-identical idioms stem from the same exact same source. Journalist William Hendry Stowell first used this expression in his article for the UK monthly periodical “The Eclectic Review”, 1816: 

“Two great sources of distress are the danger of contagion and the apprehension of hereditary diseases. The dread of being the cause of misery to posterity has prevailed over men to conceal the skeleton in the closet…” 

However, it is more generally believed that the idiom derives from past medical practice when doctors weren’t allowed to perform autopsies on dead bodies until an Act of Parliament permitting them to do so was passed in 1832. So they would hide dead bodies in closets so they could medicine at learn more about the body and diseases by doing autopsies at night.

When Jesus called Lazarus from the tomb, there was a good chance he would have “stunk up the place” — but he would not have been reduced to a skeleton as of yet. But just like the valley of the dry bones from Ezekiel chapter 37, both are brought to life through the breath of G-d — through the very Spirit of life — which comes through Ezekiel and through Jesus Christ. It is this very spirit you and I can tap in to every day for our very life, our very strength, and our promised salvation. When we feel as if we are as good as dead spiritually, the Holy Spirit can lift us up and fill us with new life.

Let us pray,

Lord Jesus, when we sin we feel as if we have skeletons in our closet. Help us to remember that your death and resurrection takes away the sting of sin and death, and gives us new life. Amen.

Pastor Dave