Friday Reading: John 11:32-36
Key Verse: John 11:35
35 Jesus wept.
Devotion:
Sometimes all we need is a bit more compassion and a bit less vigour. We are growing up in a world where people are teaching us to be strong and to work hard and to make sure that we succeed; we are taught that we have to look after number one and promote ourselves otherwise we will never get far in life. Well, life is not all about succeeding and it is certainly not all about making sure that you are number one! Jesus showed us a whole lot of things just by coming down to earth and living as a human being. He lowered Himself from the position of God to the position of man.
If there was just one verse that you had to choose to show that Jesus was indeed human then this is the verse that you should remember – and it’s nice and short too so you don’t have to think too hard! For Jesus to show compassion for His friend Lazarus in a very human form by crying shows us that He endured the feeling of any human being just as we do. Yes, He was without sin so we cannot expect to know how He felt, but He was human! When we have someone pass away who we were close to we grieve by crying and by lamenting in various ways. We show our loss through grief.
We can only being to think about the loss that Christ was feeling as He walked along with Mary to be shown the tomb of Lazarus. Whether He was lamenting because Lazarus had had to die or not we will not know. But think about what else He had to put up with at that moment in time. He was surrounded by people who were sad and crying; when we are around others who we love and they are sad we cannot help but feel for them. But then He also had to put up with thinking of all the Jews that were following that would not accept the truth He was about to show them. Who else but the Son of God could raise Lazarus from the dead after he had been there for four days? Yet instead of believing in Him they would reject Him right in front of His face. His love for each one of us is great and thankfully is not dependant on our works for Him...
Points to Ponder:
How does love affect you?
Do you know how much Jesus loves you?
