Jesus Wept

JESUS WEPT

    John 11:35, “Jesus wept.”  We all know it as the shortest verse in the  bible, but do we understand why Jesus was weeping?  Was He sad because His friend Lazarus had died?  He probably was.  Was He sad because He saw  Martha and Mary and all the friends weeping?  He probably was.  We might wonder why Jesus wept when He knew He was going to raise Lazarus back to life.  Perhaps the answer is in what Paul wrote in Romans 12:15  “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.”  It is easy to forget that Jesus had all the emotions, feelings, pains and needs that all the rest of us humans have.  He could empathize with those who were hurting physically, emotionally or spiritually.  He wept because others were weeping.

It seems that not many people today know how to empathize.  It is easy to see someone hurting and pass by without taking a second look.  That is what the priest and the Levite did when they saw a man beaten, robbed and left for dead.  It was the one we call the good Samaritan who stopped to render aid and show compassion and care.

Many Christian people are hurting today.  Some are hurting due to the pandemic that has kept them in their house.  Emotional stress is high.  They need someone to show some empathy.  Make a call, send a card, let them know they have not been forgotten. 

I read this story about a man who saw two little girls sitting on the steps of his building crying.  Thinking they were lost or had been hurt, he asked what was wrong.  One little girl held up her doll which had one arm missing.  She said, “My doll arm is broke off.”  The man took the doll and the dismembered arm and worked till it was back in place.  The little girl said, “Thank you.”  The man then asked the other girl why she was crying.  “Are you OK?”  He asked.  She then said to him, “There is nothing wrong with me, I was just helping my friend cry.”  Sometimes we just need to be like that little girl, or even Jesus and just help each other cry. “Weep with those who weep.”