It is known as the shortest verse in the Bible:
“Jesus wept.” (John 11:35 ESV).
We remember the circumstances that led to this passage, And when we read it, we celebrate the humanity of God’s Son. He laughed and He cried. He felt and experienced all that His creation experienced which makes Him the perfect High Priest and mediator between man and God.
John 11 starts off with the illness of Jesus’ friend, Lazarus. We have already seen Jesus showing his power, so Lazarus’ sisters send a message to Jesus to let Him know that His friend needed Him.
“So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” (John 11:3 ESV).
But Jesus delays. John tells us that He waited 2 days before He headed to His sick friend. He did it knowing that Lazarus would die and that the Son of God would be glorified through it. By the time Jesus makes it back, Lazarus had been dead and rotting in a cave for four days.
Can you imagine what the sisters of Lazarus thought? You sent word and begged the Master to come and help. You knew He had the time needed to get there. Yet, Jesus tarried. And while waiting for your hope to arrive, time wins out and death claims your brother. Sorrow was compounded with disappointment.
Let’s not overlook chapter 10. Jesus had just finished angering the Jews so much that they took up stones to kill Him. And in order to go back to Lazarus, they would have to head back toward the people who were trying to kill him. It’s no wonder that Thomas sighed in resignation:
“So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” (John 11:16 ESV).
Is it possible that the sisters wondered if Jesus was more worried about His own skin than He was in saving their brother? Who knows, but in times of grief, we are often left wondering why with a lot of questions that we just don’t find answers to.
What I want us to understand is that Jesus entered Bethany in an emotionally charged atmosphere. I point this out because I don’t believe that Jesus wept because His friend had died. He was the only One who knew they’d be talking to Lazarus and sharing a meal with him four days after his death.
We grieve over death because it is so final and it separates us from the people we love. Death would not separate Lazarus from his friend and Jesus knew it. And yet, Jesus wept. Not just wept, but “he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled” (vs 33). But look at what caused Jesus to feel this great pain:
“Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.” (John 11:32-33 ESV).
You see, it was when He witnessed the pain in Mary and all who mourned that caused Jesus to weep. He asks where they laid Lazarus and they took Him to the tomb. Everyone was broken hearted and it affected our God and King. John simply said, “Jesus wept” and this was what the people perceived:
“So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?” (John 11:36-37 ESV).
They had given up hope now that Lazarus was dead and it deeply hurt everyone at the tomb. And Jesus was not done hurting. Not because Lazarus was dead, but because His children were suffering. John again says:
“Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.” (John 11:38 ESV).
He was deeply moved again. And we know the rest of the story. He is indeed glorified. In a loud voice, Jesus shows His supremacy over even death itself. “Lazarus, come out!”
And even death had no power to keep its claim from the One who gave this command. The Son was indeed glorified.
So, what is the wonderful lesson of “Jesus wept?” Simply, that our God loves us enough to grieve when we grieve. It hurts Jesus to see us hurting. He cries when we cry. Isn’t that amazing?
Seriously?
When our loved-ones pass away, Jesus knows the glory and power that is theirs. He knows the reward that they are experiencing when they die in Him. When our faithful family members die in Jesus, He does not weep over their death. But when He sees the sorrow that we experience because of their death, it causes Jesus to weep.
We have a King, God and Creator Who loves us so much that we cause Him to weep when we hurt. He weeps for us as He wept for Mary. And that is what makes Him the perfect mediator between us and the Father.
When Jesus wept, it wasn’t because He was hurting for a loss He suffered. He wept because it deeply troubled His spirit to see the ones He loved so much suffering. Shouldn’t this great love be enough to make sure we never leave or forsake Him? We will never find such perfect love except in Him.
Quick question… If someone came to you and said, “I have $400,000 and I need you to help me invest it”, what would you think?
Would you pull out a stock from the top of your head and say, “Buy this”?
Would you tell him, “I don’t know” and walk away?
Or would you take the request seriously because of the value the man is entrusting to you?
$400,000 is a lot of money and it is a big responsibility to be a steward of that kind of money.
Yet, when we read the parable of the talents, we often say the last man only received 1 talent. Not much. Only 1 talent…
But 1 talent was a great sum of money. In our day, it would be worth around $400,000. That’s nothing to sneeze at.
What God entrusts to us is worth more than we often want to acknowledge. “But God only gave me this much” should never pass the lips of a believer.
Rather, let’s acknowledge the tremendous value we all have entrusted to us. Even our lone talent is a great responsibility in the Kingdom of Heaven.
He gave his colt.
We don’t know anything else about the man. Perhaps he was rich. Maybe this colt was all he owned.
Maybe he was a well-known disciple. Maybe those sent for the colt only knew about him because Jesus explained who the man was.
There is a lot we don’t know about him, but this we do know: after 2000 years, billions of people know about the simple act that he performed for the King,
“saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” (Luke 19:30-31 ESV).
The road leading to the Messiah's death would begin on this colt so He could usher in the beginning of the end for sin and for death.
“So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” (Luke 19:32-34 ESV).
The man remains nameless, but we never cease to see the fruit of his contribution to the King and His kingdom.
We may never have our name remembered but our contribution to the King and the kingdom will be our testimony forever.
Let us all be willing to untie our colt and give it to the Lord when He requires it of us. And let the King be glorified through our act of service and contribution to His kingdom.
The last words from Satan’s mouth from the book of Job are these:
“Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” (Job 2:4-5 ESV).
Satan had been allowed to take Job’s wealth and his children. Now he tells God that if his skin is harmed, Job will curse God to His face.
Satan has no love for man. We are a tool He uses to harm God. He will do whatever he can do to us in an attempt to gain advantage over God.
If that means he will harm our skin, he will do so with no regard to us.
If that means he will take away our wealth, he will not pity our misery.
If that means preserving our health to awaken vanity before God, then he will have no problem making us powerful, healthy and beautiful.
If that means showering us with riches to draw us away from God, he will not think twice about giving us great wealth.
What Satan does to us is never for our benefit. We are pawns in his twisted war on God.
Yet, we have a loving Father who knows us intimately. He knows each of our weaknesses and each of our limits. And just as with Job, our God will always draw a line with Satan and say to him, “You can do this much to my servant, but no more.”
And Satan has no choice but to obey.
While Satan sees us as pawns in his war against God, our Father sees us as children who He will zealously guard.
When we experience pain or loss, our Father hurts with us. But never forget that He has set a limit to what we will have to endure. We will never be tested or tempted with anything beyond what we can endure. God will never give us fully over to Satan.
“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV).
A Prayer To Glorify The Son
Father, we kneel before Your Son whom You have seated upon the throne at Your right hand.
We kiss the Son whom You love and sent to redeem the creation You also love.
He is our God, our King and our Lord.
We submit as stewards and servants to Your Son.
We confess Your Son before man.
Your Son is mighty, sovereign, and everlasting.
We acknowledge His Kingdom is enduring and encompasses all of creation.
We acknowledge all power, glory and honor belongs to Your beloved Son.
It is by His name we speak to You.
Amen.
A Prayer To Glorify The Spirit
Father, we come to you in praise of Your Spirit.
When we need help, Your Spirit provides what we need.
It is Your Spirit Who gives us boldness when we are afraid.
Your Spirit gives wisdom liberally when we ask.
Father, we praise You and the Son for not leaving man alone; for Your Spirit came as the Comforter to bring us all truth.
Your Spirit is the power and might in Your Word; Your Spirit convicts the world of sin.
We thank Your Spirit for interceding for us with groanings that cannot be uttered.
We acknowledge Your Spirit as God, as Creator as Sovereign.
We acknowledge all power, glory and honor belongs to Your Spirit.
We praise Your Spirit in the name of Your Son,
Amen.
A Prayer To Glorify The Father
Father, we come to You in praise to You.
For You are the One who loves man who You created in Your image.
Your mighty power has been seen by man since the beginning of time. Your creation testifies to Your glory and Your very existence.
It is by Your hand that we receive our daily sustenance.
You show us the way we should go and You direct our steps
Father, Your ways are higher than our ways and Your thoughts are greater than our thoughts.
Father, we kiss Your Son and bow to Your Spirit.
We know that You can do all things and You reign supreme as the only sovereign God over all that is. You are I AM.
We acknowledge You as God, as Creator as Sovereign.
We acknowledge all power, glory and honor belongs to You.
We praise You in the name of Your Son,
Amen.
May the Spirit give me boldness when I am afraid,
Strength when I am weak,
Wisdom when I am in the moment of decision,
Knowledge when I am searching for answers,
And help when I don't know how to pray.
So, I am reading through Job and I have noticed that the disposition of people in his ancient days is not different from the disposition of people in our day.
When Job had wealth, men revered him and sought his counsel. But when God allowed Satan to remove his wealth and strike his body, people’s disposition toward Job changed. The youth no longer respected him, but teased him in his distress.
His servants no longer respected him or obeyed him, but ignored his commands. Even his family members look upon him in derision. And his friends no longer sought him out or came to him in his time of need.
And I asked myself why? I may be wrong, but this is what I perceive from the book of Job:
I don’t believe that it is because people only respected and obeyed Job when they feared him and as soon as his trappings of power left him, they used the opportunity to rebel. For Job had been a provider and help to the fatherless, the widows and the poor. Yet these were among the very ones who turned on him:
“But now they laugh at me, men who are younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.” (Job 30:1 ESV).
And
“Because God has loosed my cord and humbled me, they have cast off restraint in my presence.” (Job 30:11 ESV).
Evil men who once feared to lift their hand against him no longer feared him. Everyone turned on Job.
I believe they turned on him for the same reason we would turn on him today. It is rooted in our tightly held view of how God rewards and punishes. We honor the wealthy and powerful because, even though we know better, something deep inside us still believes that they prosper because they are favored by God.
That is why we can let the wealthy and powerful take advantage of us and still praise them. And this is why we can turn our eyes away from the poor, the weak and those who are struggling. We struggle, only to find contempt in our hearts for them because perhaps deep down we think that they suffer because God is withholding His favor from them.
So, we become guilty of the sins of Job’s friends. If someone asked us plainly if we believe this or feel this way, we would likely argue with vehement words that this is not true for our intellect knows it is not this way.
Yet in our heart, I fear that we live and react as though it is true. So, we praise the evil and powerful as blessed and approved by God and we curse the weak, the poor, and the needy because we see them as rejected by God.
May the wisdom of God fall upon us all that we not fall into the trap and equate the righteousness of a man based upon the blessings that the gracious Lord, in His goodness gives a man. And may we not impute evil to the ones who God withholds blessings from.
For the measure of a man’s righteousness is not found in the riches that moth and rust destroy, but in the incorruptible riches that are laid up in heaven.
Wise is the one who can see the true riches that a man has by the hand of God!