John 11:33
A, no ka kite a Ihu i a ia e tangi ana, i nga Hurai hoki i haere tahi me ia e tangi ana, ka ngunguru ia, ara tona wairua, ka koingo.
Ua silafia e Iesu o ia ua tagi, ma Iutaia ua o mai ma ia ua fetagisi, ona tiga tele lea o lona finagalo, ma ua ātu lava o ia;
"When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled".
In John 11:28-37, Jesus walks into the midst of weeping.
After meeting Jesus on the road to Bethany, Martha had gone back to the village. She called Mary to come out to meet Jesus. He was asking for her by name.
Mary rushed out to meet him and those consoling her followed her. She fell at his feet. Jesus looked deep into Mary's grief.
“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died”.
When Jesus sees Mary weeping, and those with her weeping, Jesus was “moved in spirit and troubled”. The original language is far more explicit. It’s far more straight up. Jesus was displeased, and agitated.
Out of Jesus' great love arises a profound anger and anguish at death. There is profound anger at all death’s ugly consequences and all its horrific effects.
The savagery of sin and depravity of death in God’s good creation causes Jesus to shudder to his core. But Jesus' anger isn’t in spite of his love; he is angry because of his love.
What does Jesus do in his loving anguish and anger? He first asks Mary where Lazarus is buried. Then, he weeps. He weeps with Mary and those weeping with her.
In this moment, the Word is without words. He weeps. He weeps in anguish and anger at the horror of Lazarus' death and all death in the world. He weeps at the horrors of sin and its consequences. He weeps with those who are weeping.
Horrific atrocities were perpetrated in Israel by terrorists this week. We, too, can weep with those who are weeping. We weep, but we also know that the one who weeps with us walked to the cross to deal ultimately and finally with sin and death.
Jesus wept, knowing that he would soon raise Lazarus from the dead. We also can weep, knowing that one day soon there will be no more death, because of Christ's work on the cross.
As 1 Thessalonians says, "Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope". One day soon, the Lord himself will come down from heaven, and we will be with him forever (1 Thess. 4:13-18).
While we weep at the horrors of death in this world, we should not despair, because we can place our hope in the death, resurrection, and return of Christ.
