“Jesus Wept”
Jesus Wept.
*Instagram Version
In recent history, I have heard and read sad story after sad story. It has been a heartbreaking reminder that we still live under the dark shadow of the fall.
Sunday, I sat at Fiddleheads, reading “Through the Eyes of a Lion,” by Levi Lusko. In a chapter entitled “Turn off the Dark,” he mentioned John 11:35: “Jesus wept,” and sitting at a coffee shop, I was moved by that verse in way I have never been before.
“Jesus wept.” Jesus, the God of all creation, who had clothed himself in humanity, wept. He cried “with groans.” The news of his friend Lazarus‘ death and the sight of Mary’s tears, caused Him to weep. He knew the end of the story, but He still cried in the middle of the story. He cried because of the reality death, and He cried because this grief touched him personally. “Jesus wept.”
Those two simple words form the shortest verse in the Bible, and I think it is short because sometimes all there is to do is weep. Sometimes, there are no words for the layers and levels of grief life brings. There are moments where the horrors and realities of loss brutally invade our lives and leave us speechless. We have no words, only tears. Only unutterable pain that has seemingly ripped our hearts out of our chests and flung them, still beating, to the ground. There are no words for that, only weeping. Only burning tears and unanswered questions.
But there is a God knows. There is a God who has “been there.“ Jesus is a God who wept. In the lowest, darkest, deepest moments of pain and sorrow that life can bring, there is a God who can be “touched with the feelings of our infirmities.“ (Hebrews 4:15) He is not unsympathetic to our condition...our losses...our grief. He is, after all “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” (Isaiah 53:3) The God who inspired Paul to write “weep with those who weep“ lead the way.
If you are currently facing loss and grief in one of the myriad ways it enters our lives, just know there is a God who sees; there is a God who knows, because “Jesus wept.“ He is not austere and distant. He is close and personal. He will hold you; He will catch every tear that falls. He is still the “God of all comfort.”
“Jesus wept.”
Thank you for joining me for this journey! Go grab your Bible and your journal!