I read this scripture last week while preparing for the sermon. It's the shortest verse but it is, again in my opinion, one of the most powerful verses in the Bible. John 11:35 simply states, "Jesus wept." That's it. Nothing more. No huge dialogue.
Any student of the Word knows why but I want to explain to those who are maybe wondering why. Lazarus had died. Jesus was close to Lazarus and his sisters, Martha and Mary. He heard the news that Lazarus was sick but tarried because He knew that through this God would receive the glory. Did Jesus have the power to heal him? Yes. Could Jesus have made it there before Lazarus died? Yes. But this time, a different kind of miracle was going to take place. As He arrived into town, He was approached by Maratha who told Him that if He would have come, her brother would have not died. Jesus told her, that her brother would rise again. Not in the resurrection that Martha was thinking about, but it was a resurrection where Jesus was about to show His true anointing and authority over death and the grave.
Now let's break this scripture down and lets start with Jesus. Jesus, the Son of God, the One who had the power, the One who had the authority, the One who could heal, raise the dead, give sight to the blind, open deaf ears, and make the lame to walk. He wept. He cried, shed tears, felt grief, felt the sense of loss. The One who would sit on the right hand of the Father, the One who will split the Eastern sky, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the Lily of the Valley, the Rose of Sharon, and the list could go on. He felt the overwhelming emotion of grief. He experienced what we all have at one time or another.
When we lost my mother-in-law this year, we felt the overwhelming feeling of grief and sense of loss. We rejoiced in knowing she was no longer in pain but the grief was from not hearing her laugh, tell her jokes, and her just being Amy. There was honestly no one like her. I was terrified of Amy when I first met Courtnie's parents, but 11 years later, that fear was replaced with love and a bond that we shared. We didn't always see eye to eye, I drove on her nerves at times, but I wouldn't trade any of those moments for nothing.
Through that time of grief, I was reminded that Jesus wept. I began to realize how powerful that scripture was and is. When you think at times that no one understands what you are going through, remember Jesus does. When you think that Jesus doesn't understand the void, the pain, the tears, the heart ache that death leaves; just look at this short verse. Memorize it. Write it down. Jesus wept.
Do I still miss Momma Amy? Yes. But I know that soon and very soon, Jesus is going to split the Eastern sky and we will all be going Home. We will get to see Momma Amy again! Why? Because the very One that wept, He died on the cross, overcame death, Hell and the grave, and rose again. Now He is sitting on the right hand of the Father ever making intercession for you and I!
I pray this blessed you! If you would like for our church and us to remember you in prayer, please email my wife and I at djw2410@gmail.com!
In Christ,
Pastor Dereck J. White
