Jesus Wept

Jesus Wept

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
   When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked.
   “Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
   Jesus wept. 
                                      (John 11:32-35 NIV)
                                                                                                              
The shortest verse in the Bible is but two words: "Jesus wept." Upon seeing Mary's grief over her brother's death, Jesus wept. Surely he was not weeping for Lazarus as he knew full well he would be raising him from the grave very shortly. He wept to see such sorrow in Mary and Martha. His relationship with the sisters and their brother Lazarus had been a very close relationship. He loved them and he wept for and with the sisters. His heart went out to these two women who loved their brother so.

There is very little that warms this old pastor's heart more than hearing a member of my congregation or a friend talking about Jesus with tears in their eyes. To hear and feel their love for our Lord brings tears to my own eyes. It fills my heart to overflowing to know that those whom I shepherd love him that much.

Jesus loved Mary and Martha so much that he felt their pain. He had compassion for them. He loved us so much that he was willing to take upon himself the pain of our sins. He had compassion for us and was willing to take upon himself the penalty of our sins that we might also be raised from the dead.

May God help us to have a love for one another that we too might know the pain and suffering of the people around us.

God's Peace - Pr. J