03/25/2023
Here is my recent devotion in its entirety.
Jesus wept. John 11:35
Growing up in “Kid’s Church” and in the Youth group, we would have contests to encourage us to memorize scripture. This verse was everyone’s favorite because it is the shortest scripture in the Bible. The first person up would quickly recite this one before anyone else had the opportunity to use it. It was easy for us to memorize because it only has two words. But for it to just have two words, it speaks so much to us about Jesus.
You may or may not be familiar with this passage in the Bible. Jesus’ friends – Mary and Martha, had called for him to come. Their brother, Lazarus, was sick. I mean really sick. They knew that if Jesus didn’t get there quick, their brother would die.
Jesus was very close with all of them. In verse 3 it says, “So the sisters sent word to Jesus, ‘Lord, the one you love is sick.” You would think that Jesus would have left at once to go and see Lazarus. But he didn’t. Jesus delayed his coming and Lazarus died.
When Jesus finally got there, Lazarus had already been dead four days. Mary heard that Jesus had arrived, and she quickly got up and ran to him, falling at his feet saying, “Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” She was upset and rightfully so. She was weeping, along with the Jews that had come to mourn their friend.
The Bible says that Jesus was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. He asked where Lazarus had been buried and they led Jesus to where he was. And then these two words describing Jesus’ actions were written by John who saw it first-hand, “Jesus wept.”
In the Life Application Study Bible, it says, “Jesus showed that he cares enough for us to weep with us in our sorrow. This portrait contrasts with the Greek concept of God that was popular in that day—a God with no emotions and no messy involvement with humans.”
In this one chapter, we see different emotions expressed by Jesus – compassion, sorrow, and even frustration. Jesus often displayed deep emotion to all of those he encountered. But for me, this one story rises to the top because Jesus cared so deeply that he openly grieved over the loss of his friend.
In Psalms 86:15, 103:8, 13 and 145:8, God is described as compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. In other passages, we read that God is near to the brokenhearted.
In the New Testament, time and again we read that Jesus never shied away from those that were broken, sick, desperate, addicted, possessed, blind, deaf, mute, etc. Jesus’ love and compassion for people was openly displayed. He did not run away, get nervous or even belittle those in need. Jesus loved people so much that the “messy involvement with humans” did not deter him from touching them, loving them, or even experiencing their grief and sorrow.
In my own life, I have experienced joy, laughter, heart ache and grief. I have experienced what seemed like deep valleys of fear, sickness, loneliness, questioning God on the plan unfolding before me. But through every season, there was one constant – Jesus was there. Jesus was not intimidated by my “mess”, nor did He condemn me for it. He was compassionate, patient, loving and kind as he guided me through.
Jesus extends the same to you. You may think that your life is too messed up for the Savior of the world to get in the trenches with you. But that is not true. Jesus knows and feels when you are weak and hurting. (Hebrews 4:15NIRV) He longs to walk with you through every joy and every heartache.
So today, you can run to Him with no shame casting every care at his feet. Stop carrying your pain all alone. Jesus cares. After all, Jesus wept.
