Feeling Pain as Jesus Did
Your dead shall live; my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust; for your dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast forth the dead. — Isaiah 26:19
Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. Jesus said to her, "Didn't I tell you that if you believed, you would see God's glory?"So they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, "Father, I thank you that you listened to me." — John 11:39-41
Author
Milagros García Klibansky
Summary: At Lazarus’s tomb, Jesus wept and showed that he understands our pain. Grace sustains us, but it does not prevent grief; we can turn to Christ in loss and find comfort without pretending to be joyful. Jesus has compassion for our weaknesses and offers us life: when we turn to him, we pass from death to life and no longer have to face the fear of dying alone. Those of us who trust fully in Jesus will be with him forever, though we should not claim certainty about what we do not know concerning others. Today he calls us to leave behind fear, doubt, and sin, to repent, and to accept his forgiveness and a new life.
If we go to Lazarus’s tomb, we see a Jesus who suffers, and we find the shortest verse in the Bible: Jesus wept. (John 11:35) But how interesting that a little earlier, when Mary reproaches him for taking so long to arrive, we read: “Then Jesus, when he saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her weeping as well, was deeply stirred in spirit and moved.”
It was customary at the time to lament loudly and uncontrollably, but that was not the case with Jesus. He sheds tears of grief over Lazarus’s death because he could understand human pain (Isaiah 53:3); a family that feared God and was blessed by him was in mourning. Grace sustains us, but it does not prevent grief in the heart. Yet if we kneel at Christ’s feet on good days, we can come into his presence on a day of sorrow and find comfort.
We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses—the Son of God shed tears! Let no one tell you that you must smile when you lose someone you love because God willed it so!
But the good news is that we will be raised, and this is not for the future; it is for the present. When we turn to him, we are brought from death to life; we are raised. The decision is ours, and then we stop living in fear of death because we are not alone. Jesus goes with us when we pass into that unknown dimension.
Those of us who trust fully in Jesus will be with him forever. Those who trust in themselves do not have that assurance, but we must not claim to know something we do not know for certain.
Even today Jesus cries out: “Take away the stone!” The stone of your fear, your dread, your doubt, your sin… and, what is more, “Come out!” “I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
Jesus can bring you out of that dark, narrow tomb and give you another chance at a new life. Christ has the same power over death today, and this is an inexplicable miracle. He wants to give you life now and for eternity. Repent of your sin and accept his offer of forgiveness and life. If you wish to do so now, make your decision and come out!