Jesus Wept
John 11:35
Jesus wept with those he loved and he still does.
John 11:35--it's the shortest verse in the Bible. Someone said that this verse served him well when he was a little boy in Sunday School. Back then, if you could quote a verse of scripture, you would get a gold star by your name on the big chart on the wall. This was his star-producing verse. "Anybody know a verse of scripture this morning?" The teacher would say, and his hand would go up immediately.
The next Sunday the same thing would happen. "Anybody ready to quote a verse of scripture?" Up with the hand. "John 11:35..Jesus wept." Another gold star. After several Sundays of this, the teacher finally looked at him and said, "Jim, do you know any verse other than John 11:35, Jesus wept?"
A few years ago, a young ministerial student was working at a church as a summer intern. He went over to the chapel one Sunday morning to serve Holy Communion. He had never served communion alone before and he was scared. They had a common ritual printed on a laminated card. It started with the Invitation to Communion, followed by the Prayer of Confession and the Prayer of Consecration; and then just before the people would come forward to receive communion, the minister would stand, face the congregation and say, "Hear these words of comfort from the scriptures" They left a blank there on the communion card so the minister in charge could at that point quote a favorite verse. When they got to this point in the service, the young ministerial student stood and said, "Hear these words of comfort from the scriptures....And then he went absolutely blank. There was a long pause and then he blurted out the only verse he could think of at the moment: "Jesus wept."
Later he told what happened and how awful he felt about that at first, but then how one of the members came down after the service and said to him, "When you quoted that verse, 'Jesus wept,' that was so meaningful to him because it made him suddenly realize that...the Healer of our pain is the feeler of our pain!"
There is a minister serving now in Virginia named Al Hanner. Al Hanner tells a powerful story about his early days in the ministry. Al says he came out of seminary ready to be "super preacher." Single-handedly he thought he would solve all the problems of the world. He had been trained, he was well prepared, and now as a pastor in a little community in Virginia, he was ready to spout them to the world with pious religious authority, and that he did, as the months passed quickly into years.
Then one morning the phone rang. The father of his board chairman suddenly died. As Al started to their home, it hit him: "I don't know what to do. I'm their pastor and I'm scared. I don't know what to say to them." He tried to remember his classes in pastoral care. He tried to recall appropriate scripture passages to quote. He tried to think of some profound theological message to give these people in their shocked hour of need. He plotted his strategy: "I know what I'll do...I'll go in boldly and take charge. I'll gather all the family in the living room and quote the 23rd Psalm. That's what I'll do," said Al Hanner., "That's the answer."
But there was one thing that Al Hanner hadn't counted on. When he got to the home and gathered the family in the living room, he looked at their faces and the pain became his pain. He suddenly realized how much he loved these wonderful people, and Al Hanner exploded into tears. He cried so hard that the family had to rush over and minister to him. They helped him over to the couch, mopped his brow with a cold cloth, and brought him a glass of water. Al Hanner was so embarrassed, so ashamed. He felt that he had failed miserably. He was humiliated. He got through the funeral and went immediately to the Bishop and asked to be moved to another church. And shortly after, Al was indeed transferred.
Several years passed and each year at annual conference, Al would hide from that family., He could not face them. But then one evening he came around a corner and there they were. He couldn't avoid them. He couldn't hide. Their faces lit up when they saw Al. They ran to him and hugged him warmly. "Oh, Al," they said, "We are so glad to see you. Our family loves you. We appreciate you so much. We miss you. We talk about you all the time. We have loved all of our pastors, but you are the one who helped us the most." "Oh, really?" Al said with genuine surprise. "Oh, yes," they said, "We will never forget how you came and cried with us when Dad died."
There's an important lesson here. When people are in grief, they don't want theological pronouncements. They just want us to come and to love them. They just want us to come and cry with them.
Jesus wept with those He loved, and He still does. He hurts with us. He feels our pain. We all face suffering some time and when it comes, one thing we can know is that our Lord is hurting with us, and He will love us through it. He will walk through the valley with us and in time He will bring us out of the valley of sorrow to the mountaintop on the other side. Jesus wept with those he loved and he still does.
Questions to Ponder
What is your favorite verse in the Bible?:
Have you helped somebody in sorrow or suffering lately by just being there with them?
In His Service,
Terry Phillips
