Jesus Wept.
In the story of Lazarus (John 11:28-44), the women are all gathered together, moaning and weeping and mourning the loss of Lazarus. And when Jesus arrives on the scene, and sees Mary and the Jews with her weeping, "He groaned in the spirit, and was troubled" (vs 33) Then Jesus asked to see where Lazarus was laid, and they replied, "Lord, come and see." (vs 34) and "Jesus wept."(vs 35)
There is something special to me about this verse. "Jesus wept!" Can you picture that? Can you imagine Jesus weeping? His dear friend is dead. His other dear friends are suffering because of the loss of their brother. And Jesus wept!
Jesus knew that in just a short time, He would call Lazarus forth from the grave, and Lazarus would come back to life. Jesus knew how the story would end, the good things coming soon. But when His friends were mourning, Jesus wept with them. Why? Why would He weep when He knew that Lazarus would come back to life? Jesus wept for His friends, the ones living, the ones grieving, Jesus wept for Mary and Martha. Because Jesus loved them and had compassion on them.
I believe that just as Jesus wept for Mary and Martha, Jesus weeps for us too. Jesus knows the future, the good things coming...but when we go through hard times and we find ourselves weeping, Jesus weeps with us! Why? Because Jesus loves us. Because Jesus has compassion on us. In our time of loss, in our struggles, in our brokenness, Jesus comes on the scene, and He weeps with us.
In verse 38 it says, "Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb." After weeping with Mary and Martha, Jesus went to the place of their sadness. The source of their pain and He did something incredible!!
In vs 39, He asked for the stone to be removed and Mary speaks up and says, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days." Many times we do the same thing...Jesus comes to the place of our pain, our suffering, and He ask us to "remove the stone" or open the door so He can have access to that area in our life, and we are quick to come up with a reason not to remove that stone..."But Lord, there will be a stench!" "But Lord, it hurts too much!" But Lord, it's too bad" "But Lord, _________!"fill in the blank with whatever excuse we can find.
Jesus' response to us is very similar to what He said to Mary..."Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" In other words, If you just have faith, if you just believe, you will see the glory of God!
Once the stone was removed, Jesus prays, and then cried in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth! and Lazarus came out of the tomb bound with grave clothes...and Jesus said "Loose him, and let him go!" When we remove the stone, open the door and allow Christ access to those dark, hurting places of our lives, He calls out to us and brings us back to life. The areas where we struggle with losses, hurts, sins, or failures, become new with just the sound of His voice. Then as we struggle with the baggage left over, our "grave clothes" wrapped about us...Jesus says, "Loose him and let him go!" and Jesus does what He does so well, He sets us free!!
I don't know what your situation is, what area in your life you find yourself weeping, or hurting, or struggling...but Jesus knows, and Jesus is weeping with you, loving you, and asking you to remove the stone, open the door, and allow Him to bring new life to those dark corners of your heart and life. Will you remove the stone today?? Will you give Him access??
Let's Pray!
Heavenly Father, we thank You that You love us! Even though we fail and fall, though we are broken and scarred, though we make mistakes and mess things up so quickly...You still love us! You weep with us, You see our mess, our pain and our failure, and You are moved with compassion. We are so thankful!
Today we choose to open the door, to roll the stone away and give You full access to those areas of our lives that are so hurt, broken, sinful and just plain stinky! No more excuses, no more holding back, today, Lord we give those areas to You, and ask You to bring about new life and set us free from the "grave clothes" that entangle us. Thank You Jesus for your love and forgiveness. We love you, Lord!
Today we choose to open the door, to roll the stone away and give You full access to those areas of our lives that are so hurt, broken, sinful and just plain stinky! No more excuses, no more holding back, today, Lord we give those areas to You, and ask You to bring about new life and set us free from the "grave clothes" that entangle us. Thank You Jesus for your love and forgiveness. We love you, Lord!
In Jesus Name, AMEN
