Monday, June 5, 2023

He feels our pain

Jesus wept.  John 11:35

I remember when I first learned about this verse when I was very young.  I was told it was the shortest verse in the bible and the easiest to memorize.  Of coursed I learned it right away but didn’t know its context or significance.  Now that I am a little older and have read it in context many times, the scripture takes on a whole new meaning to me.  At first it seemed strange to me that something seemingly so insignificant would be in the bible. First of all, I didn’t understand why He was weeping and secondly, I just thought it was because everyone does at some point in life.  Now, of course, I understand it so much more clearly as I am sure most of you do too.  Here is what I see now.

When Jesus finally got to where His friends Martha, Mary and Lazarus lived, Lazarus had already died.  Many people were at the house to comfort and mourn with his sisters.  When Jesus got close to the house, Martha went out to meet Him.  She talked to Jesus about her brother’s passing and Jesus comforted her right where she was in her faith and in her grief.  He told Martha that her brother would be raised up and gave her hope and encouragement for the future.

Then He called for Mary.  When Mary came to Him, she was clearly more distressed.  The passage says that when Jesus saw her weeping He groaned and was troubled.  His approach to comforting Mary was right where she was.  He actually felt her pain and in doing so, He began to weep.  So much so that those who were there watching made note of His weeping.  He didn’t just wipe a tear or two away, He was actually crying with Mary as He comforted her.

As I think about His compassion and the love that He had for Mary and Martha, I am encouraged to know that He loves me in the same way.  He meets me right where I am when I turn to Him with my suffering and pain or grief, He feels what I am feeling. 

Hebrews 4:15-16 says it this way: For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  He understands what we are going through on a day-to-day basis because He already went through those things.  He has already felt the hurts and pains that we will go through in our lifetime and He has already seen the extent of damage those traumas can cause.  So He comforts us when we go to Him.  In fact, the passage in Hebrews says we should go boldly to Him just like Martha and Mary did.  They didn’t crawl out to Him in shame and condemnation, they ran to Him for answers and resolution to their problem.  He was there for them even though they had to wait for a couple days for Him to show up.  He met them, He mourned with them and then He comforted them.  After that, He brought life into the situation and new hope.

Today I want to encourage you that He will do the same for us in whatever we are facing right now.  Let us go boldly to His throne in our times of trouble and even in our times of peace.  Stay close to Him and let His throne be the first place you run to when problems come.  Don’t try to fix it on your own and don’t try to go through everything alone.  Run to Jesus with your prayers with your concerns and even with your tears.  Even if it takes a day or two, He will show up and He will meet you there and pick you up. He will walk with you through your pain and heal all the broken pieces along the way.  The result will be new life in the situation and hope for a great future.

Today’s scripture reading: John 11:28-37

28 And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.” 

29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. 

30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him. 

31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”

32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. 

34 And He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”

35 Jesus wept. 

36 Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”

37 And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”