Our Lord’s Tears
John 11:34
And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”
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Our Lord’s Tears
Lazarus was dead. His sisters were angry with Jesus for not getting there sooner to do something. The professional mourners were there to lament. Emotions were running high as Jesus came to the tomb of His friend. We are told Jesus wept. Jesus’s love for Lazarus and his family was on display that day. There would be no hiding the rawness of the situation. What we mere humans do on a regular basis, the Son of God, our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, did that day as well. He wept. But Jesus wept not for the loss of Lazarus, for He knew He was with the Father in heaven. Jesus wept for Mary and Martha and their family. He wept for their loss of a brother. He wept for the consequences of sin suffered by all mankind.
Yet that is not all He would do that day. “Where have you laid him?” is the question. Jesus does not sit idly by as His followers suffer, instead He intervenes. “Lazarus come out,” was all He needed to say, and life was restored to His friend. In the same way, God’s Word for us who are dead in our sins is all that is needed to resurrect our souls from the tomb of sin, death, and the devil. Just as Jesus did not ignore the suffering of Lazarus’s family, neither does He ignore your suffering. In fact, just as He experienced the pain of Lazarus’s death, He also experienced the pain of His own death, so you would not have to. On the cross, Christ reconciled you to the Father, and through His Word and Sacraments you too are called out of your tomb to life in Christ.
And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”
+
Our Lord’s Tears
Lazarus was dead. His sisters were angry with Jesus for not getting there sooner to do something. The professional mourners were there to lament. Emotions were running high as Jesus came to the tomb of His friend. We are told Jesus wept. Jesus’s love for Lazarus and his family was on display that day. There would be no hiding the rawness of the situation. What we mere humans do on a regular basis, the Son of God, our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, did that day as well. He wept. But Jesus wept not for the loss of Lazarus, for He knew He was with the Father in heaven. Jesus wept for Mary and Martha and their family. He wept for their loss of a brother. He wept for the consequences of sin suffered by all mankind.
Yet that is not all He would do that day. “Where have you laid him?” is the question. Jesus does not sit idly by as His followers suffer, instead He intervenes. “Lazarus come out,” was all He needed to say, and life was restored to His friend. In the same way, God’s Word for us who are dead in our sins is all that is needed to resurrect our souls from the tomb of sin, death, and the devil. Just as Jesus did not ignore the suffering of Lazarus’s family, neither does He ignore your suffering. In fact, just as He experienced the pain of Lazarus’s death, He also experienced the pain of His own death, so you would not have to. On the cross, Christ reconciled you to the Father, and through His Word and Sacraments you too are called out of your tomb to life in Christ.
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