8-21-2015

Good Morning All!!

         John 11:35; “Jesus wept.”

     Jesus wept; the shortest verse in the Bible.  I wonder how many confirmation kids wanted this to be their confirmation verse; I have had a few.  Jesus wept;   here it is over Lazarus.  Lazarus was a dear friend.  It seemed that whenever Jesus was in the vicinity of Bethany, he would stay with Lazarus and Mary and Martha.  So even though Lazarus’ death was part of the plan to show God’s glory, Jesus wept, partly at the death of his friend, partly at the pain and the sorrow that Mary and Martha were experiencing, partly as anticipation of what his mother and disciples would feel in a few days.  Jesus wept; he felt the pain of those around him and he shared it.

    Jesus wept over Jerusalem as well.  The crown jewel of Israel had rejected Jesus as Savior and thus sealed its fate.  It would soon be destroyed by the Roman Empire.  Jesus wept; partly out of compassion for the pain that would occur, Jesus wept because he knew the calamity of sin and the destructive effect it has on life.  In the person of Jesus, we get a picture of God who weeps over sin and the consequences and the cost.  Jesus wept and still does today.

    Sin still destroys.  It destroys the lives of those far too young whether in the dirty pitched battles of Syria and Iraq or any one of a dozen other civil war that doesn’t rank the news but kills indiscriminately anyway or in the sterile world of an abortion clinic.  Jesus weeps.  Where a child goes hungry or an adult lives on the edge of the community treated like the lepers of Jesus time; Jesus weeps.  The cost of sin, the pain of sin, the calamity of sin continues to rip the human race apart and Jesus weeps.

    Sin grieves God.  It destroys our relationship with God.  Sin tore man away from God’s perfect garden and led him down the cesspool of depravity where man thought evil was good and wrong was right.  The cost of sin, the wages of sin also grieves God.  Man was not designed to die.  We were given a soul that was to remain united with our body forever but sin now tears them in two.  Death is still the final enemy and Jesus weeps.  Jesus weeps because we still turn our back on his great gift of forgiveness and salvation and we pay the price with separation and ruptured relationships.

   Still, Jesus keeps calling us back and offering us healing.  He desires that we be whole and that we live as his loving children.  God wants us to be his and his alone.  Trust God for his mercy redeems us and saves us.

Gracious Father, in your loving kindness you sent Jesus to die to remove our sin and yet we continue to grieve you and to suffer because of it.  Continue to send your healing.  Bring us into your holy family that we may live in peace and harmony with you and our neighbor.  Guide us by your Spirit.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret