“Jesus wept.” John 11:35 (NIV)
Jesus wept aloud when He stood over unrepentant Jerusalem in their failure to recognize Him as Savior. But when Jesus stood before the tomb of Lazarus, He shed a tear. Jesus’ expression of grief was not a loud lament but rather an intimate display of grief over the reality of the consequences of sin. We get a glimpse of the humanity of Christ as He empathized with Mary and Martha. Of course, Jesus knew that He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead.
- “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” Isaiah 53:3 (NIV)
- “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet was without sin.” Heb 4:15 (NIV)
- “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” Phil 2:5-7 (NIV)
Jesus knows grief by personal experience. Jesus knows what you are going through right now. You will never go where Jesus has not already been. Draw near to Him. Place your burdens upon Him. Trust Jesus with your life, your hurts, your disappointments, and your dreams.
Pursuing God,
Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor