When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at
his feet and said, "Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not
have died." When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with
her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. "Where
have you put him?" he asked them. They told him, "Lord, come and
see." Then Jesus wept. The people who were standing nearby said, "See
how much he loved him!" John 11:32-36
Jesus
wept. The shortest verse in the Bible—so my kids always quoted that when
asked to quote a Bible verse. But think about it. Jesus wept. He felt the same emotion that you and I feel when we
are mourning, sad, distressed or experiencing grief. He cried. Now some say
that men shouldn’t cry—but they shouldn’t hold their emotions in and then
explode or find some other unhealthy way to express the anger that is behind
that emotion. Yes. Anger. This Scripture passage tells us that there was a deep
anger that had welled up within Jesus.
 |
| Lazarus was called out of the tomb. Jesus came out of the tomb. What "tomb" is holding you captive? |
Look at the root of our grief. It is anger.
We feel cheated out of something that is dear to us…a treasured person or
thing. Anger. That is what many people are feeling now as we are past 40 days
of the “Stay Home-Stay Safe” order that was originally to last two weeks. Forty
days is a special length of time in the Bible. Time goes on. Restricted from
doing many things we want to do—work, play, socialize, recreation and worship.
Anger. At the loss of so many lives—in our community, our state, our nation and
the whole world. Such a feeling of hopeless for those families and friends of
the deceased, who don’t know the Lord. There is hope of an eternal salvation
for those who do know Jesus. Look at Jesus Himself who was resurrected from the
dead…and who called his friend Lazarus out of the grave. That is power. That is
love. It is OK to weep—to cry—to feel that emotion over a loss. Imagine how
much sadness God felt over giving up His Son, Jesus, as a sacrifice for the sin
of the world. To save the world.
For God loved the world so much that he gave
his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but
have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but
to save the world through him. John 3:16-17
Mankind has historically been rebellious
and selfish, so God has a right to be angry. He is a righteous God. Rather than
take out His anger at the world over sin, God chose to allow His Son to be the
sacrifice to atone for the wrong. Blood has to be shed to remove sin. We can’t
do it for ourselves by sacrificing a lamb or a bird…Jesus had to do it for us.
He gave His life for us.
Salvation
is accepting what Jesus did for us. Jesus paid it all—for all of your sin and
all of mine. Can you accept that? No tears needed…but I’ve cried tears of joy
in appreciation of what Jesus did for me. He wept.
Prayer
~ God, I humble myself before You, grateful that You were willing to allow
Jesus to be the sacrifice for my sin. Forgive me, once again, for not living up
to Your standards. Wash my sins away with the blood of Jesus—and make me pure—as
white as snow. I praise You and I love You.
Verse
of Salvation ~ If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in
your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by
believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by
confessing with your mouth that you are saved. Romans 10:9-10
©
2020 Text and watercolor painting by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
Unless
otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation,
copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of
Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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