Jesus Weeps

I spent my week preparing for a Celebration of Life Service. I know the family well, and the wonderful lady who passed was one of the sweetest members of my church. She had been battling cancer for quite some time. And when things like this happen, we often hear a couple of "church acceptable" responses: 'At least she's not suffering anymore' and 'she's in a better place now' are the two biggies.

While I'm not denying that both are true statements and both are meant to bring comfort to those left behind, I often get concerned that we've tied up the box too quickly, and honestly, left God out of the picture.

Here's what I mean. We had prayed for healing, but that didn't happen. So, when the time came, we prayed for a peaceful transition, and that did happen. But now, in the aftermath, we seem to struggle with thoughts of who God is, what mercy means, and WHY He didn't answer our prayer for healing. Would a miracle not still glorify Him? Does he just not care about our pain? Do we not understand prayer? Was she not right with God and he was punishing her? Am I not right with God and he's punishing me?

As I stared at my Bible to prepare, I know that the expectation is that I will pick up my Bible and go to one of the familiar passages of comfort, like Psalm 23. But this week, my mind kept taking me back to the story of Lazarus in John 11.

I think many of us are probably familiar. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus are siblings and close friends of Jesus. In fact, three times in John 11 the Bible reminds us that Jesus loved them. Lazarus takes ill and his sisters send word to him. He waits 2 days before heading to Bethany, where the family is. He has already stated to his disciples that he is aware that Lazarus has died, and tells them that the purpose of this death was NOT so that Lazarus would die, but so that God would be glorified. This is the first of His curious statements.

When He gets to the family, they both tell him that they wished that he could have been there, because he could have prevented the death. Keep in mind that Jesus was told Lazarus was ill and chose to wait.

When the sisters are with him, and their Jewish friends are also mourning, we see one of the most amazing displays of Jesus' humanity: He has a deep groaning in His soul and he weeps.

This is the exact same groanings that many of us feel when we have terminally ill loved ones and the same weeping we feel when we lose someone we love. But I want to note that Jesus loved his friend...yet it was still necessary for him to die. Despite knowing that He would raise him from his grave, Jesus still wept for those who felt the heartbreak of losing a loved one.

No, Lazarus did not die because God was mad at him. The passage clearly states that Jesus loved his friend. Lazarus did not die because no one prayed hard enough. Mary and Martha clearly agonized in prayer over Lazarus, and again, the Bible tells us that Jesus loved his friends. Lazarus did not die for any reason other than the fact that, for some currently unknown reason, it would bring God glory. And that is never easy for us to understand while in grief. Mary and Martha did not understand it, but Jesus loved them anyway. The unbelieving Jews did not understand it, but God used the miracle to bring them to him. Most importantly, Jesus DID understand it, but wept for the heartbreak of those he loved anyway.

So, where is God when trials threaten to overtake us?

Weeping with you, because He loves you, and it hurts Him to see you in pain.

He's not mad at you. He's not chastising you. he's not suggesting that you don't have enough faith. He's loving you through the natural cycle of life and death, knowing that you are hurting.

~Steve