John 11:1-45

Title: Jesus wept.

God came to Earth in the form of a human, to know our suffering.  To me, that’s really all that matters.  I’ve struggled with understanding and acceptance of who Jesus is, and if He really was who He said He was.  If you have not had that struggle, I truly admire you.  But I don’t know how you do it.

One thing I have not struggled with, at least in recent years, is the idea that God came to Earth from Heaven, in order that He might know our suffering. 

This week’s Gospel reading is John 11: 1-45, a pretty long reading.  The upshot is that Jesus’ dear friend, Lazarus, dies.  Lazarus’s sister Mary says to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  And indeed, Jesus delayed getting to Lazarus, and in the interim Lazarus had died.  She wants to know where Jesus was.  Why He didn’t help when he could. 

Right, now, many of us are asking where Jesus is.  Why He isn’t coming in to save the day.  And I have no answers.  I saw an article about a brand- new baby just diagnosed with this new virus.  And the mother can’t even visit him to hold his hand.  People are dying, and we aren’t allowed to go to the funerals.  And we are allowed to go to a funeral, we can’t embrace each other.

Where is Jesus?  What use is He to me in this moment, realistically? 

The only thing I can rely on is that I truly believe He is suffering with me.  John 1:35, the shortest verse in the Bible is from this passage.  It says this, “Jesus wept”.  Meaning he wept at the death of his friend.  The brevity of that verse says it all; He knows our pain.

God is bigger than death, ultimately, in the cosmic sense.  But our bodies still die here on Earth.  And that stinks.

But as I say, God has come to Earth to know our suffering. 

I guess I’m just trying to fill your head with what I feel to be true about God: He loves us and knows our pain.  And maybe if you ever need to draw on that idea it may help to think of that.

God bless you, now and always.   

The Older Brother