When Jesus Weeps: Presence, Comfort, and Resurrection

But what does he do first? First, he comes to his people whom he loves, who are hurting, and first he weeps with them, joins them in the dark. I think that is so so important. You know, are a lot of philosophies and religions out there that believe in God or a God or higher power or something like that, but only Jesus does this. Only Jesus comes to his people in the midst of their brokenness and weeps with us. Only Jesus. And when that happens, in that weeping, we might call it weakness, the astonishing love and glory of God is revealed to us right there when Jesus wept. [00:41:07] (50 seconds)  #CompassionOfChrist

So Mary and Martha, they're urgent and and I mean Lazarus is on death's door and they send for Jesus. They call for Jesus and Jesus waits for two days. Now how would you feel if you were in the shoes of Martha and Mary knowing that Jesus could have come, he could have come sooner, he could have prevented Lazarus from dying, but he waited. Even from a distance, he could have commanded the illness to leave Lazarus. That's exactly what Jesus did for a Roman centurion's servant. But for his own beloved faithful friend Lazarus on the point of death, Jesus waited. [00:34:08] (44 seconds)  #GodsTiming

If you have a friend or an acquaintance or a loved one who's in that place, in the depths, in the darkness, in a place of heartbreak and confusion and agony, I think it's really important to learn from Jesus here. Go and weep with those who weep Just as Romans 12 tells us to do. That's why God puts us in relationships, in families, in churches, so that we can be there for each other. Sometimes not even to say anything, but just to be there. Sometimes like Jesus in this passage, to talk with people, to encourage people with truth, to pray for people and with people. [00:49:51] (41 seconds)  #WeepWithThoseWhoWeep

What we see with Martha and with Mary and Lazarus, their family, what we see with so many people in the gospels is that faith is what opens us up to receive the grace and the power and the healing of God. Faith, Jesus says this to one person after another, your faith has made you well. Right? You see this all over the place. Faith opens us to receive the gift, to receive the grace, to receive the power that God is offering. [00:47:50] (27 seconds)  #FaithReceivesHealing

If Jesus is the resurrection, if he is the life, part of what that means is if you want life, the life that really is life, if you wanna experience resurrected life that transcends this life, you've gotta go to Jesus. He's the source, he's it. You're not gonna find that anywhere or from anyone besides Jesus. It's to him you must turn and glory be, he's already seeking you. [00:45:01] (30 seconds)  #SourceOfResurrection

It's been said that our suffering is always personal. And so God's answer to our suffering is not simply an idea, but a person. Jesus, who comes calling us. Come to me. We say this every week. Come to me. You're heavy laden, you're hurting, you're weary, you're you're beat down. Come to me and I'll give you rest. He comes to us in person and he calls us. [00:45:31] (28 seconds)  #ComeToJesus

go to Psalm 13, go to Psalm one thirty and let those words lead you into prayer. Those words that Mary and Martha probably said over the cold corpse of Lazarus. Let those words start turning you to the God who loves you and wants to share his grace and healing with you. That's why they're there. That's why these these prayers are in the book of Psalms. [00:49:25] (25 seconds)  #PrayThePsalms

He gives us an example of how to love other people with the kind of love that comes out of the heart of God. He weeps with them, but he doesn't stop there. His presence brings to them the love of God. His presence also brings to them the power of God. When we're like night watchmen waiting, yearning for the breaking of a new dawn, I love that image in Psalm one thirty. He comes and he waits with us in the dark, but he also brings the light. That's what Jesus does. [00:42:42] (34 seconds)  #LightInTheNight