‘Jesus wept.’
John 11:35 Dr Colin M. Parkes said, ‘Grief is the price we pay for love’. The more you love someone, the more you grieve their death. Shock, disbelief, confusion, depression, emptiness, and anger are all part of the process.
When Jesus arrived at the home of Lazarus, His friend had been dead for four days and his sister Martha was upset. She wanted to know why Jesus hadn’t come sooner, or prevented it altogether. ‘Why, Lord?’ It’s a question we ask when we’re overwhelmed with grief. And what was Jesus’ response? The Bible says that seeing Mary and the other mourners, ‘Jesus wept’. And when He did, He made it okay for you to grieve too!
Tears don’t represent a lack of faith; they just mean you’re human. The One who gave you the ability to love understands sorrow and loss - that’s why He gave you tears.
How do we mourn? One counsellor says: ‘Awkwardly. Imperfectly. Usually with a great deal of resistance. Often with anger and attempts to negotiate … We flounder through kicking and screaming, until we reach that peaceful state called acceptance.’ But acceptance doesn’t mean giving in to despair, because ‘the parting is for a moment and the reunion is for eternity’.
Paul says: ‘We will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality … then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory”’ (1 Corinthians 15:51-54 NIV 2011 Edition).
Luke 6:27-49, Ps 35-36
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