Last week, I saw a post from a friend who was hurting, and almost all words of comfort escaped me. Only two were in my brain. “Jesus wept.” What did that mean? Why would those words come into my mind?
After I typed those two words into the comments of her post, I felt compelled to read the story from which they came. Listen by clicking the video here:
Here are a few points to think about when listening to this post or reading it.
- Lazarus’s situation wasn’t really about Lazarus.
- Jesus had feelings.
- Everyone understood that Jesus could heal.
- Not everyone believed that Jesus would heal.
- The disciples didn’t really understand Jesus, even though they followed him.
- Jesus always talked to God; sometimes so humans could hear.
- The healing may be miraculous and happen in front of us, or we may not ever see it on this earth but the healing will come.
Jesus wept. Jesus was deeply troubled and was angry. A spiritual anger. People saw this and assumed it was at the loss of Lazarus, but remember, Jesus told us in the beginning that this was so that people could have The Light. This whole thing wasn’t really about Lazarus. But still, Lazarus was real, as were Mary and Martha and all those mourners. They were standing there, and Jesus was moved, and he had emotions and he wept.
Jesus wept.
The shortest verse in the entire Bible and yet, packed with so much to consider. I will leave that to you. I just want you to remember this, that there is no situation so dire, no sickness so terminal that Jesus is perplexed and hopeless. No matter what the situation, sickness, or circumstance, Jesus is always about faith, always about hope, always about love. He does not operate outside of that, even when He is overturning tables in the tabernacle. Jesus’s mission is always about love.
Anyway, this is Christmas. The time of year when families gather around tables filled with food and laughter. When children wait without patience but wide eyed with wonder and eagerly anticipate all the beautiful things wrapped up in packages large and small. It’s a time when we, in our warm homes with long nights and bright days, reflect on the year that is closing. Christmas is supposed to feel anything but sad.
Still, it’s not lost on me that Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ, the human form of our salvation. On that very first Christmas, Jesus was already heading toward Good Friday. Yet, we don’g hear how Jesus felt sorry for Himself, we see how Jesus cared for others while he prepared for crucifixion.
Initially, Jesus spent time in the temple, learning from those who would one day challenge Him. He learned to understand their speech, their teachings, and their methods. Then, Jesus went back to his earth-family and learned from his dad, Joseph the carpenter. In that time, he was laying low, keeping quiet and just being. Soon, he would be out on the road, teaching and sharing the Good News of the Gospel, encouraging others to repent and turn away from the things that kept them from heaven.
It was during that preaching and teaching time that Lazarus fell ill. Jesus knew this would happen, but He also knew that Lazarus would not stay dead. Jesus knew that for some to find salvation, they would need to see Lazarus walk out of the tomb. God knew that too, about some of us. That for us to believe, we would need proof. Now God told us that it is better to believe without seeing, but He also made a way for us to believe after we’ve seen. God always makes a way for us.
I will confess to you that I’ve been writing this post for the past two weeks or more. I have had a bunch of ick to bleed out, and it wasn’t quick to bubble up. It took so much daily drudgery to get here. I’m not even sure if I am “here” (to the point of being able to articulate); however, I’m trying. I confess that I have spent a lot of time like Martha and Mary, coming out to tell Jesus that if He would have done this/that/the other, then I wouldn’t be sitting here with a dead stove, no presents, etc., etc., etc… Oh, how nothing changes.
I know God is beside me. I know He never abandons me, and I know He knows without me having to ask. I know He already has a plan and has worked it out before I even realize I have a need. Yet, when the forest is dark and I can’t see the trees, I am a worrier and a grumbler. I am a chicken little running around calling out about the sky falling all the while knowing that the sky is held in place by The One who set it there. Grumbling.
“If you had been here…“
I don’t have much to say because anything else I say is going to sound trite and preachy and while it will do me good to preach to myself, it might not help anyone else. So, I’m going to close with this:
It’s been a long (you-fill-in-the-timeframe), it’s hard to find the words sometimes to fully express what we are feeling. Upset, afraid, resigned, angry, mourning, confused, unsure, curious, pissed off, elated, relieved, hopeful, guilty, forgiven… so many feelings all at once for me. The only thing that makes sense to me right now is that Jesus wept.
He feels this too. He felt it when he was about to raise Lazarus, He felt it at The Last Supper, and I’m certain He felt it in Gethsemane. Jesus Wept. He had the feelings, and it must be perfectly okay for us to have the feelings too. Jesus knows how this all ends, whether we are running around screaming about the sky falling or blaming Him for being late. He knows. He knew from day One. He still chose it. Even though He wept. He chose it while He wept. He chose that path and in doing so, He chose us. In Hebrew, the name Lazarus means, “God Has Helped.”
You can cry and feel and then give all your stuff to Him. He helps; plus – He never sleeps on us. Nothing is beyond His reach. Jesus wept, and it’s okay if we weep too.
All my love, yet His is greater.
Momma Rich's 