The Grieving Christ
Scripture Reading: John 11:1-44
Meditation
Two sisters, their brother, and Jesus. They aren’t just friends; they’re family.
They might not be connected by genetics or related by blood but they are bound together by love. And so when the brother, Lazarus, gets sick, the sisters send word to Jesus,
“Lord, the one you love is sick.”
Underneath the news, unspoken but understood, is an urgent plea,
“Come quickly!”
But Jesus deliberately delays.
“When he heard this, Jesus said, ‘This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.’ Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.”
The “one that he loves” is sick and he deliberately delays? It’s two more days before Jesus goes to Bethany. What type of love is this? What type of friend? What type of Messiah?
For Jesus, the outcome is certain—Lazarus’ sickness will not end in death. Death may be a stop along the way, but it’s not the last stop on the journey. It’s the next to the last stop. Resurrection is the final destination.
His love for Lazarus is certain. Though Jesus is absent, his love isn’t diluted, his bond of friendship isn’t weakened, and his affection doesn’t wane. Though he’s late, he still loves.
Jesus is certain that he will be glorified through the sickness, the sorrow, and the suffering of the next few days. In the valley of death, he will be exalted.
But what’s certain for Jesus is not so certain for Mary and Martha.
They had sent word for him to come. They were certain that he would stop his activity, make Lazarus a priority, and rush to Bethany. And so they look down the road.
They wait.
They wonder where he is.
But while they wait and because Jesus delays, their brother dies.
When Jesus finally does come, there’s an emotional distance. A gap of uncertainty has been created by their grief.
“Does he still love us?”
“If he does care about us, why didn’t he come? Why is he so late?”
The loss of Lazarus has created a degree of separation between Jesus and the sisters. Mary, the more emotionally tender of the two, chooses to stay at home when Jesus enters Bethany. Martha, the more assertive and verbal, marches out.
“When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
‘Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.’
Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ ”
Eventually, Mary comes and weeps at his feet.
Both sisters weep with the same premise,
“If you would have been here …”
Martha punctuates her case with firm, direct words, spoken straight to his face. Mary intonates her conclusion as she wets his feet with her tears. The source of the heartache is that the sisters know that everything could have been different. It didn’t have to end this way. While Jesus could have done something, he didn’t.
Not yet.
“When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. ‘Where have you laid him?’ he asked.
‘Come and see, Lord,’ they replied.
Jesus wept.
Then the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’ ”
As he approaches the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus is overwhelmed with emotion. Suddenly, out of nowhere, his love for his friend and the loss of his friend meet, mingle, and then ignite in his gut. He doubles over, falls to the ground, and begins to mourn.
This is a sacred moment—holy ground.
Nothing is said and yet everything is said. His emotions speak without him saying a word. His weeping is a witness and his tears a testimony. The grieving isn’t planned, orchestrated, choreographed, or done on cue. Such contrivance would profane the purity of his pain.
Love and loss have ambushed him. Mourning comes no other way. Those around Jesus can only acknowledge,
“See how he loved him!”
But the day doesn’t end with mourning; mourning is only a place to stop on the way to rejoicing. Jesus goes to the tomb, orders the stone to be taken away, and then shouts to his friend,
“Lazarus, come out!”
The dead man comes walking. In the resurrection of Lazarus, Jesus reveals his glory. In the death of his friend, the Grieving Christ shows his heart.
Which is the greater miracle, a four-day-dead-man resurrected and now laughing with his sisters? Or, the Messiah, the very Son of God, bent over with gut wrenching grief, weeping?
Both are a sacred display of love!
Prayer
Father,
As your Son came to the tomb of Lazarus, “the one that he loved”, he was ambushed by his emotions.
Two intense feelings—love and loss—rushed at him from opposite directions. They surprised, seized, and disarmed him. He was overwhelmed by the height of his love for his friend but overcome by the depth of the loss.
Without warning, love had seized his heart; without mercy, loss had a devil’s grip on his gut. Doubled over, he fell to his knees, crossed his arms over his stomach, buried his head, rocked up and down, and began to grieve.
More than grief, the tears were a testimony of his love. More than weeping, this was witness. More than a solemn moment by a grave, this was something sacred. His grieving was an outward sign of an inner, sacred tearing of his heart. He just wasn’t crying; his heart was bleeding.
During this day, I want to know that the Grieving Christ is deeply moved by me. Help me believe that he calls me, knows me, and refers to me as, “the one that I love”. Show me not only that he loves me, but that he also weeps over any death in my life.
I pray this in the name of the one who grieves death but also raises the dead. Amen.
Reflection
Do you remember the last time you wept? What did the weeping reveal?
Have you ever said, “Lord, if you would have been here ...”? If so, what were the circumstances?
What comfort does it bring to you to know that Jesus wept?
What death are you grieving?
What resurrection are you celebrating?
All Scripture references in the meditation are marked by italics and are taken from the Gospel reading for the day (John 11:1-44). Those verses quoted outside of the chosen reading for the day are noted in parenthesis. All Scripture quoted on this site is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.