Recently I had the honor of siting beside the bed of a man who may see Jesus face to face before I am able to visit with him again. The most difficult part of my job is the best part of my job. I get paid to love people. I'm a pastor, that's what I do.
I held this precious man's hand as we talked. His cancer has progressed rapidly as of late and his body has deteriorated quite a bit since visited him two weeks ago. I had prayed the Lord would not take him home before I returned from India and He was gracious to me in allowing me to spend a little more time with my friend before he draws his final breath here on the earth.
Tears were welling up in my eyes as he said, "Don't cry." Don't cry...I could not not cry. But why was I weeping? Although we are friends, it is not like we are the best of buds. He is a man in our church that I have become very fond of. I know he is going to heaven to see Jesus. That is not why I wept.
I know the kind of pain to lose a loved one and yet that was not the reason I wept. His wife, adult daughters, sons-in-law, and grand-children are hurting and will soon have the most bitter tears that have ever burned their cheeks. But I was not weeping for them.
Why was I weeping?
I thought about that question as I drove back to the church office. Why was I weeping? That is when the Lord spoke to my heart. He reminded me of the story of Jesus as He delayed when called to go help His friend Lazarus. He then received word that Lazarus had died. His disciples wanted to turn back as they feared persecution from the Jewish leaders if they returned to Bethany which was near Jerusalem.
Jesus said to them, "Come on guys. Let's go back to Bethany and I will show you something really cool!" OK, that is my paraphrase version. Jesus was going to Bethany, not to heal Lazarus, but to raise Lazarus from the dead.
When Jesus met Mary and Martha, Lazarus' sisters, His emotions welled up in His eyes. We all know the verse because it is the shortest verse in the Bible. John 11:35 - Jesus wept.
Although it is the shortest verse it is one of the most moving verses in all scripture. Jesus wept. Jesus knew He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead so I don't believe He was sorrowing over the loss of a friend or the pain his sisters were going through. I believe Jesus wept for the same reason I wept as I held the hand of a dieing friend...This is not the way things are supposed to be.
Death is never a friend. Death is a result of the Fall. This is not the way things are supposed to be and our souls know it very well. My soul longs for the day when Jesus returns and makes everything right. My soul longs for the day when there is no more sin, no more pain, no more death. We were made for something so much more that this mere earthly existence. We were made for, and long for, a close, intimate relationship with the triune God.
I weep because this is not the way things are supposed to be, but this is not the way things will always be. If real men don't weep then Jesus and I are not real men.
1 Corinthians 15:51–58 (New Living Translation)
I held this precious man's hand as we talked. His cancer has progressed rapidly as of late and his body has deteriorated quite a bit since visited him two weeks ago. I had prayed the Lord would not take him home before I returned from India and He was gracious to me in allowing me to spend a little more time with my friend before he draws his final breath here on the earth.
Tears were welling up in my eyes as he said, "Don't cry." Don't cry...I could not not cry. But why was I weeping? Although we are friends, it is not like we are the best of buds. He is a man in our church that I have become very fond of. I know he is going to heaven to see Jesus. That is not why I wept.
I know the kind of pain to lose a loved one and yet that was not the reason I wept. His wife, adult daughters, sons-in-law, and grand-children are hurting and will soon have the most bitter tears that have ever burned their cheeks. But I was not weeping for them.
Why was I weeping?
I thought about that question as I drove back to the church office. Why was I weeping? That is when the Lord spoke to my heart. He reminded me of the story of Jesus as He delayed when called to go help His friend Lazarus. He then received word that Lazarus had died. His disciples wanted to turn back as they feared persecution from the Jewish leaders if they returned to Bethany which was near Jerusalem.
Jesus said to them, "Come on guys. Let's go back to Bethany and I will show you something really cool!" OK, that is my paraphrase version. Jesus was going to Bethany, not to heal Lazarus, but to raise Lazarus from the dead.
When Jesus met Mary and Martha, Lazarus' sisters, His emotions welled up in His eyes. We all know the verse because it is the shortest verse in the Bible. John 11:35 - Jesus wept.
Although it is the shortest verse it is one of the most moving verses in all scripture. Jesus wept. Jesus knew He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead so I don't believe He was sorrowing over the loss of a friend or the pain his sisters were going through. I believe Jesus wept for the same reason I wept as I held the hand of a dieing friend...This is not the way things are supposed to be.
Death is never a friend. Death is a result of the Fall. This is not the way things are supposed to be and our souls know it very well. My soul longs for the day when Jesus returns and makes everything right. My soul longs for the day when there is no more sin, no more pain, no more death. We were made for something so much more that this mere earthly existence. We were made for, and long for, a close, intimate relationship with the triune God.
I weep because this is not the way things are supposed to be, but this is not the way things will always be. If real men don't weep then Jesus and I are not real men.
1 Corinthians 15:51–58 (New Living Translation)
51 But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! 52 It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. 53 For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
