Guest Meditation: 'Jesus wept'

 

Dear Parish Faithful, The following is a very fine meditation written by our own parishioner, Jenny Harkins. Jenny draws out the duality of natures in the one Christ, who is both God and Man, as the Lord reaches into the realm of death to bring back his beloved friend Lazarus, to life. In this, He anticipates His own resurrection that will occur after His life-giving death on Golgotha. _____     “Weeping for Thy friend, O Bread of Life, Thou didst raise him up.”  - Vespers of Lazarus Saturday “Jesus wept.” - Jn 11:35 After reading this passage several times, a few thoughts come to mind concerning verse 35 “Jesus wept.” One is the striking expression of the Lord’s human nature which is about to be contrasted with the powerful expression of his divinity in the resuscitation of Lazarus; fully man and fully God! His humanity is authentic- vulnerable and sensitive like any of us in the face of heartbreaking tragedy. It’s fascinating to me that though Martha and Mary say the same thing to Jesus, his response to each of them is very different; Martha receives encouragement in Christ’s reminder of what is true and Mary receives comfort in the empathetic compassion of Christ sharing in her tears. He is embodying the beatitude “Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.”  It seems to me that even though he knew Lazarus would die and that he would raise him up, he still mourned the fact that sin and death are a reality, and one that now had so viscerally touched his dear friends. It makes me think of Gen 6 when sin and wickedness had polluted his creation and “it grieved him to his heart.” Sin and death cause deep feelings in God. (That feels like a big statement!! It seems to be true, though!) I also thought about Jesus weeping in Gethsemane- how the weight of death is so unnatural and opposite of all that Jesus is! All creation was made through him and he upholds all life with the power of his word! He is the God of the living and not the dead! (Mk 12:27)  This scene in the Gospel feels like that intense moment in an epic movie where the hero is pursuing his enemy and that enemy gets the upper hand temporarily in a dark and disheartening turn. Jesus has come to utterly destroy death itself and yet here, right before the climax of the story, death strikes one so dear to him. I can’t imagine the righteous anger he must’ve felt and what meekness he embodied as he carried out his Father’s will in his perfect timing!