"Jesus wept." John 11:35
While reading through the eleventh chapter of John, which gives the account of Jesus' raising Lazarus from the dead, I was especially struck by verses 33 - 35. Here John gives us a glimpse into the compassion of our Savior.
Mary, Martha and their companions were gathered together to mourn the death of their brother and friend Lazarus. Jesus clearly knew that in just a few short minutes Lazarus would be revived by a shout from Him, commanding his dear friend to come out of the tomb. Yet even knowing this, Jesus wept. And we should take special note of this.
Verse 33 tells us regarding the grief expressed by Mary and the mourners:
"When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in His spirit, and greatly troubled."
Then we read in verse 35 that "Jesus wept."
I believe these few short verses are extremely important to our understanding of the heart of Jesus. He wasn't weeping for Lazarus. He was weeping for the gut wrenching grief of Lazarus' family and friends. He heard their laments, felt their pain, and shared in their sorrow and their tears, so much so that He wept, too.
Our Savior is deeply compassionate. Of course, it was His compassion for lost sinners that drove Him to sacrifice His own life so that all who receive Him would be saved from sin and given eternal life. And that in itself is enough. The Lord doesn't need to do anything beyond Calvary to show us His compassion.
And yet, He does.
He grieves when we grieve. He weeps when we weep. His heart hurts when our heart hurts. He feels everything we feel, and His arms are wide with comfort. He beckons us to come to Him and experience His love and compassion.
Honestly, this brings me to tears.
What a wonderful, merciful Savior is Jesus Christ our Lord.
Today's music video Wonderful, Merciful Savior by Selah is one of my very favorite songs of praise. I pray it will stir your heart to worship.
I love you, I'm thinking of you, and I'm praying for you.
Such a beautiful reminder of God's love and compassion for us. How could we not appreciate it? I hope you have a wonderful God-filled week ahead.
ReplyDeleteBlessings and hugs,
Betsy
I'm thankful that He understands all of our low points, because we all face many difficulties in this life. And He reminds us to bring all of our heartaches to Him. I'm so thankful that He is waiting to share these burdens and that we don't need to face anything alone.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. Wishing you a nice new week ahead. Hugs. Kris
ReplyDeleteNancy,
ReplyDeleteWe've been grieving my son's work accident last Wednesday, in which he lost three fingers. He's 18. However, we know this compassionate and loving God and he is with us and helping us. Your post was timely reinforcement!
Deanna Rabe
Deanna, I'm so sorry to learn of your son's accident. I will certainly be praying for him; it must be so devastating for a young man to have that happen. I could offer a lot of platitudes, quote scripture, and so on. But you already know all that, and know the faithfulness of our "loving God." Thank you for sharing your situation, and for the beautiful testimony. Warm hugs.
DeleteThank you for this. I needed it. God Bless you.
ReplyDeletewww.rsrue.blogspot.com