John 11:32-44 (NRSV)
Read John 11:32-44 on biblegateway.com
Verse 32When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
Verse 33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. Verse 34He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." Verse 35Jesus began to weep. Verse 36So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" Verse 37But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?" Verse 38Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Verse 39Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days." Verse 40Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" Verse 41So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me. Verse 42I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me." Verse 43When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" Verse 44The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
Devotion
Jesus wept. His dear friend, Lazarus, has died. But why the weeping? Is it because people aren’t getting what he is teaching, or because he’s human, truly human, with itches and scratches like all of us?
We understand that Mary and Martha would cry. Maybe the men wouldn’t cry. But Jesus did. Maybe he wasn’t bawling out loud, but was teary-eyed, as I am when I hear the “Star Spangled Banner,” ever since my brother died in Vietnam.
Our Lord Jesus died a terrible death – it was not merely a charade. And he is raised by the heavenly Father. As will it be for all who are baptized into his dying and rising and who gather at the table to celebrate his presence among us with bread and wine.
Oh, that will be glory, indeed.
Prayer
O Lord, precious Lord, amidst our heartbreak and our grieving, encourage us all to seek and find you. Amen.