Most ministers have to associate with sickness, death, and grieving more than they would like. We understand that we are there to comfort, but hospitals and funeral homes will eventually take their toll on your psyche. Every preacher will tell you there have been those times when they were emotionally spent, because of the grief that they had shared. We expect ministers to be a source of strength and courage during difficult times, and at times we forget how hard that is.
I remember a time in my ministry, where the church was overwhelmed with death, sorrow, and grieving. It seemed like there was a 10 day period, where I was involved in a funeral on a daily basis. Accidents, sickness, disease all seemed to come together in a perfect storm. The breaking point for me was at the funeral service for one of the elders of the congregation. As the family was coming out of the church building, loading into their cars to go to the cemetery; one of his brothers came to speak to me. I don’t know what it was; the look on his face, or just the reminder of the life of that elder — but I began to weep uncontrollably. The brother, who had preached for a number of years, just put his arms around me, holding me and said nothing. It was not just that moment, it was all that we had been thru for that period of time that overwhelmed me. That moment of comfort will be something that I will never forget.
This morning, as I was reading, all of this was brought back. Listen to what Scripture says:
When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” JESUS WEPT. (John 11:28-35, ESV)
It seems pretty obvious to me, that Jesus is not weeping because Lazarus had died; because He knew (and had known for 3 or 4 days) that He was going to resurrect him out of that tomb. Jesus wept because He saw Mary, and the Jews, weeping. He was deeply moved because they were hurting, and that touched Him.
Scripture also says that He was “greatly troubled”. It is my conviction that He is troubled because He sees what sin has done to the world. From the time that Adam and Eve sinned, death and the grave had been man’s greatest enemy — death had stung, and the grave had been the victory — of Satan. When Satan had seduced Eve into eating the fruit, and she had given it to Adam; he brought something into the world that God never intended. Jesus looked at that scene, and He saw the pain of what sin had done, and grief overwhelmed Him!
Jesus knew what was ahead. He knew that He would die, and that He would enter the stronghold of Satan, the grave; and that He would defeat Satan on his own “turf” by coming out of that grave … ALIVE ! Alive, never to die again. From that point forward, those that follow Jesus would never look at death and the grave the same! That death was not the end, that there was hope! It was because of Jesus that we know that death on this earth, does not have to be the end. The apostle Paul said:
and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, (II Timothy 1:10. ESV)
We still grieve, and weep when those that we love pass from this life. But as my friend, Harvey Starling, told me … “We don’t grieve for them, we grieve for ourselves.” May you find peace, comfort, and hope in the Gospel. Peace.