When Jesus Weeps with Us – Love in the Wilderness
A devotion from John 11:17-44 on faithful sorrow
Here is a devotion to start your day!
A spoken version of this devotion is available through the Still, Here audio reflections podcast.
Scripture: John 11:17–44
When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews weeping who came with her, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?” They told him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. The Jews therefore said, “See how much affection he had for him!”
Reflection
By the time Jesus arrives in Bethany, Lazarus has been in the tomb four days. Martha meets Him first, grief tangled with faith: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. Even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” She believes in a future resurrection. Jesus tells her, “I am the resurrection and the life.”
Mary comes next, falls at His feet, and says the same first words: “Lord, if you had been here…” Her sorrow moves Him deeply. He sees her weeping, sees the mourners, and is troubled. Then comes the shortest, and one of the most powerful, verses in Scripture: “Jesus wept.”
He knows He is about to call Lazarus out of the tomb. Yet He still stands in the middle of their grief and feels it with them. Resurrection hope does not short-circuit sorrow; it enters it. Then, at the tomb, He cries with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” Death obeys.
Hope in Christ is not a thin optimism that tells you to cheer up because “everything happens for a reason.” It is a Savior who weeps at your graveyard and still has authority to speak life.
Love in the wilderness stands beside you in tears before it calls you out into joy.
A Prayer of Presence
Jesus,
You are the resurrection and the life. Thank You for weeping where I weep and not rushing me past my grief. Stand with me at the tombs in my life and speak Your living word in Your time. – Amen
Practice for Today
If you are carrying grief, allow yourself to name it specifically before God—perhaps even out loud. Picture Jesus beside you, tears in His eyes. If possible, take a brief walk or sit somewhere quiet as an act of letting Him accompany you.
Consider This...
Where do I most need to know that Jesus both weeps with me and holds resurrection hope for me?
Carry This Prayer With You
Breathe in: Weep with me…
Breathe out: … and raise me
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