Then Jesus Wept

Tuesday, February 11, 2014      Then Jesus Wept

John  11: 28-37

In today’s passage Mary brings her “Lord, if only you had been here” statement to Jesus (John 11:32).  However, she was not alone: “But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?” (John 11:37). It is important as we approach the seventh sign in John’s Gospel, to remember what John said is the purpose of these signs: “But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name” (John 20:31) Martha, Mary, and many of their friends were still at the place where they believed the purpose of the Messiah was to change the adverse circumstances of their personal lives. They did not yet understand that the Messiah comes to give us right standing with God for all eternity. (BTW, the seven signs are: 1. The turning of water into wine (2:1-12); 2. The healing of the royal official's son (4:46-54); 3. The healing of the paralytic at the Bethesda pool (5:1-17); 4. The feeding of the five thousand (6:1-14); 5. The walking on water (6:15-25); 6. The healing of the man born blind (9:1-41); and 7. The raising of Lazarus (11:1-46))

As we hear Mary express her grief to Jesus, his response to Martha is also still ringing in our ears, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25a). In the midst of this hugely difficult theological and doctrinal point to grasp, Jesus reveals the very heart of God. “Then Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Jesus fulfilled the words of the prophet Isaiah, “Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down” (Isaiah 53:4).

The Palmist tells us that God cares deeply for us: “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book” (Psalm 56:8).

God keeps our tears in a bottle and Jesus weeps with us.

What wondrous love is this,

O my soul, O my soul,

what wondrous love is this,

O my soul!

What Wondrous Love Is This?

Dr. Alexander Means, 1835

(My ancestor and name sake)

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.