The shortest verse in the Bible, appropriately so I think, is John 11:35, which simply says, “Jesus wept”. Jesus had allowed Lazarus to die without his intervention because he planned to use this circumstance to manifest his power and glory. And yet we should note how deeply he shares in the grief of this tragedy. He does not enter this circumstance aloof and disconnected from the suffering of his dear friends. No, he is grief stricken. Jesus was going to bring good out of this, but that did not diminish his empathy for Mary and Martha or his sorrow in the face of death. When someone close to us dies we might be confident of their salvation and their eternal blessing but that does not diminish the tragedy of death itself. Even Jesus wept at Lazarus’ death right after he had declared himself to be the resurrection and the life. Death is a tragedy. It is not what God ever wanted for us and God himself laments over the tragedy of death. We must never deny ourselves the right to grieve over the death of others. Having faith doesn’t mean that you don’t grieve the death of a fellow believer. Faith grieves over death as Jesus did, but in the midst of that grief it finds consolation in the fact that death leads the faithful into the arms of the one who is the resurrection and the life. Death is a tragedy for the living because we are parted from those we love. But for those who die in Christ, death is the doorway to eternal life.
Ask Jesus to give you fullness of life so neither your life nor your death is wasted.
Read John 11:17-37
