Tear-Stained Savior

Perhaps you have this little verse tucked away in your treasury of Bible trivia as the shortest verse in the Bible:

John 11:35 – Jesus wept.

This is probably the simplest verse in the entire Bible, just two little words. But these two little words give us much more than Bible trivia or a good verse to memorize. In these two words John reveals something special about our Savior.

John’s Gospel begins by laying the foundation that Jesus was there with God in the beginning and that Jesus was and is completely God. Everything was created by Him and for Him. But there was a problem: sin. Man disobeyed God, and with that act he opened the door to all sorts of pain and suffering, including death and eternal punishment in a very real hell. Mankind was doomed to suffer the consequences of his sin and things looked bleak.

Until one night in Bethlehem, when a boy was born: Immanuel, God with us, Jesus Christ. Jesus was completely God and completely man, he never sinned, but He saw the consequences of sin and felt the pain of death and loss firsthand. That is where we find ourselves in John 11:35. Jesus’ friend had died and it hurt. Remember, Jesus was completely man. He was tempted, abandoned, mocked and abused. He felt pain, disgust, joy and sorrow. But today we have hope because of Him. He conquered death and paid the price for our sin.

So if you are hurting, if you have wept, if you are carrying a burden or if you have known pain. I want you to know that you are not alone. Jesus knows exactly how you feel, not through some distant sympathy, but through personal experience. Jesus is a personal Savior and He is there for you, just reach out to Him. He sees your tears, He knows your pain and He loves you more than you will ever realize. And perhaps if you let Him close enough, you will see that His cheeks are tear-stained just like yours.

Questions

In a house with a three year old boy, the question that you would expect to hear all the time is, “Why?” But lately it seems that the question that I hear all of the time is, “Who gave me this?” Riley wants to know who gave him everything that is in his room. We have tried to figure out his motive for this odd question, and the optimist in me wants to say that he asks this question because he is grateful for all of these things. But the thought has crossed my mind that he may be trying to figure out who loves him the most by who has given him the most. I may never know the truth, but it did make me think.

When we look at life and all of the pain that comes with living in a fallen world why is it that the question that we ask most is, “Why?” Don’t we tend to overlook the good things in life, taking them for granted while we concentrate on the bad things? We overlook 10 miles of smooth pavement to complain about one pothole. Now I am not suggesting that we should overlook the bad times, but maybe we should be more grateful for the good times.

When we start asking, “God who gave me this: day, breath, house, job, health, spouse, child…” don’t we start to realize who loves us the most? God, who gave me this hope? God, who gave me forgiveness? God, who gave me salvation? God, who gave me purpose? God gave us everything, how can we doubt that He loves us?

I can’t understand why God loves us and I sure can’t explain it, but I can testify to His love. No matter how bad we are, no matter how good we are, if we are in church every day or wandering away. God loves us; He loves us as much as he can in spite of us. Even when we reject Him, He still loves us. And we know that He loves us because He proved it.

God loves us more that we can comprehend. On this journey of life maybe we should try to ask “Why?” less and “Who gave me this?” more.

My Jesus I Love Thee

By: William Featherston

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign.
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I love Thee because Thou has first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree.
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now