“Jesus Wept” statue at the site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, OK. 4-19-1995
As a child growing up in church, the title of this post, John 11:35, was my favorite verse to quote. I think the reason is obvious. Saying it with accuracy would help earn me a candy bar, or something. But these days, it has a whole new meaning.
These days, I know why Jesus wept. I was taught it was because his good friend Lazarus had died, but I don’t believe that anymore, for Jesus already knew he was going to raise him from the dead. Verse 4; When Jesus heard this, he said, “This sickness will not lead to death, but to God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” (NET)
Jesus wept because the people, and his friends, who had lost their loved one were hurting. My point to telling you this is Jesus hurts when you are hurting too, even today. Jesus sees you, knows your name and knows what you are going through now and will go through in the future.
Verse 32 Now when Mary came to the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the people who had come with her weeping, he was intensely moved in spirit and greatly distressed. (NET)
When you are hurting, distressed, be confident that Jesus knows, he cares, and he can’t wait for you to invite him to do something about it. It’s true, he holds the whole world in his hands, but he’s holding you as well. Now rest in that knowledge.
Copyright © 2019 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.
After living here four months, it finally happened! I got very sick this past week from being an American and being careless with the water here in the Philippines. While I was lying in my hospital bed, there was a series of thoughts like, “Is God punishing me? Am I not praying enough? What lesson is God wanting me to learn? Should I be praying more?” Then there are those who try to bargain with God like, “God, I will go to church, if you get me out of this.”
One of the hardest decisions to make, after having your heart ran through a shredder, is to try again. You have said, “No way!” “I could never trust again.” “I can’t take the chance, or I never want to feel that kind of pain again!”
What has to happen, or be said, to get you to help? Especially, to someone you don’t know. For Jesus, he just had to see. See the need.
Doctor: “Sit up straight and breathe normal.” The doctor moved his stethoscope across my chest, and then around my back. “Deep breaths.” He listened. For what? Did he hear anything out of the ordinary? Perhaps a murmur? Was there reason for concern?
Be quiet mind,
There it is. Right there in front of you. It is unwelcomed, and even now, is unwanted, but there it is. A situation has developed in your presence. One that activates emotions. They seem to come out of nowhere, and they arrive so fast.
It happened again. The explosive temper from one I am supposed to love, and I do, but the pain. I left their presence, but I was a “walking wounded”. I kept rewinding the scene and playing it over and over in my mind. Why? This didn’t need to happen. I begin seeking comfort.
Mankind’s first address was inside Garden Grove Estates. God gave Adam and Eve a home there, but they wanted more. They wanted to know what God knew, even though he told them that kind of knowledge wasn’t for them. They disobeyed, and got evicted.
brady, mark a. 