And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” John 11:34-35, 38-39
Today we found out why our guesthouse didn’t have any hot water and why there was hardly any water pressure. The tenants living here before us had two little adorable little boys. They’re so adorable in fact that they filled the water pump with sand;) While this has gone on since we moved in, someone came to our rescue today! He came and removed all of the rocks and did many other tasks to get the water pressure back on.
Today’s events made me think about this passage. The faith of Jesus. The humanity of Jesus. The raw emotions. With the removal of the stone guarding Lazuraus’ grave, life being called back into his body as God was glorified.
What a passage of scripture! All of John chapter 11 centers around this story of Lazuraus’ death and resurrection. It was obviously a marked moment in Jesus’ life to have such detail recorded. I love how He decided to draw near. Upon hearing that Lazuraus is dead, Jesus asks where He is laid. This shows to me that Jesus is not afraid to get near the dead things in our life. He knows that what temporarily looks dead has the opportunity to have life renewed.
While these aren’t necessarily words in red, my favorite part of this chapter is verse 35,”Jesus wept.” Sometimes Jesus is portrayed almost like a heavenly robot as if the fully man part was absent and He was only fully God operating on Earth without emotion. This verse shows His humanity, shows His brokenness and full operation of compassion. He cried and mourned over the loss of His friend. He cried over those who had lost their brother and friend.
His longing for things to be made right called forth a prayer from deep within His spirit and Lazuraus’ life was restored.
I’m thankful for the intercession of Jesus over my life. I’m thankful that He was fully God and fully man on the earth so that He experienced what we experience. I’m thankful that He speaks life to dead situations in our lives. I’m glad that Jesus wasn’t afraid of the stench of my deadness in sin and rolled away the stones that kept me locked in a tomb. He drew near and called me into eternal life with Him. Jesus loves us and desires that we walk in the fullness of all that He has for us.