The Two Words That Bring God Closer To Our Hearts

John 11:35 Jesus wept.

The shortest verse in the entire Bible speaks so much into our lives about exactly who this God is that we serve. Sometimes we have this distorted view of God. The world sells us on this notion that He is some far away being, looking down on us disapprovingly, with a lightening bolt in hand ready to punish us for our behavior. We can also fall into the trap of thinking that God is too detached; only dealing with the more serious problems we or the world may face. Lastly, we can mistakenly believe that God does not understand what we go through in our lives. That the emotions we have to struggle with are so far beneath an all-powerful being. None of these lines of thought are true however. They are all designed by the enemy to weaken our relationship with God.

The truth is that God is not some far away God. He is always with us, as Jesus Himself promised:

Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:20 (NLT)

Note the emphasis from our Lord be sure of this. Do not doubt it beloved. God is always with us. Jesus even adds, even to the end of the age. He says this to provide two assurances. First of all, that there is no time, until all time is even done that He will not be with us. Secondly, the end of the age will be the most devastating time, when God will seek justice from mankind. Even then, no matter how tumultuous the time may be, Jesus is assuring us that He will be with us! There is nothing that can separate Him from us. Not even the end of this age.

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow--not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below--indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8: 38-39 (NLT)

We need to be just as convinced as the Apostle Paul. God is not some far away entity, out of touch with our lives. The devil will lie to you and trick you into thinking God is an absentee landlord but remember the declaration of David:

David said about him: "'I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Acts 2: 25

Where is God to David? At his right hand. The world will try to shake you. The enemy will come against you. Jesus Himself said we would have tribulation in this life but NONE of it means we should even be shaken! As long as God is at our right hand, it matters not what is in front of us.

And God looks upon us with love. Whatever punishment He may deem necessary is because of actions on our part that cause us to stray from Him. Look, God has a plan for our lives. The details of which are on a need to know basis and we often do not need to know. His Word is a lamp unto our feet so we can see the next step He has for us to take. That is the essence of faith. Do you think it made sense to a trained military expert like Joshua to march around the walls of Jericho seven times and then shout? Did it make sense to Gideon to watch the Lord whittle down his army from 32,000 to 300 men before sending them into battle? From a human perspective, the answers are no! But with God at their right hands, Joshua and Gideon knew the victory would be theirs! That same victory is waiting for you today as well. God knows your situation. He knows the size of the enemy you face.

Another popular lie is that God is only concerned with the major details of our lives. Often times we can go to God in prayer only after things have reached the point of no return. When things have become a huge problem. God would prefer that we surrender our entire life to Him before there are major problems so He can help us to avoid making poor decisions. Look at David and Bathsheba. David saw Bathsheba bathing and lusted for her. He did not go to God with his lust. David then coveted Bathsheba but he did not go to the Lord with his covetousness. David has a problem. It started out as so many of our problems do, just a thought here just a look there. We know we shouldn't be dancing with the devil but it all seems so small; so insignificant. You must believe that David knew what he was entertaining was wrong. Maybe he pushed it far back in his consciousness so as to not allow the sin to bother him. Maybe David felt some entitlement or a sense of what he deserved as king. Maybe all the sycophants surrounding him, telling him what a great guy he was started to take its toll on his pride. If he had gone to God and repented at this point he could have avoided so much heartache in his life. But he didn't. He sent for Bathsheba and thus David became an adulterer. God watched as David began to try and cover up his sin. David still did not turn to Him. God watched as even the righteousness of Uriah was not enough to shake David from his path of ruin. David still would not turn to God. David orchestrates the murder of Uriah to cover up his sin and God sends Nathan the Prophet to rebuke him.

Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.' 2Samuel 12: 7-10

As if scales fall from his eyes, David sees the scope of the sin in his life and finally turns to God. He pleads for the life of his new son but God would take him. He would then see another son rebel against him and lose his kingdom. What scales blind us today? What pride has infiltrated our lives? What sin seems too small to bother God with? Truth is God could say this speech to any of us. He has done so much in our lives and if we would only ask purely, He would give us even more. Yet the devil shows us what we do not have and we covet. God sees that small detail. He wants to be a part of it beloved. He wants to show us the right way through the valleys in our lives. David would repent and God would restore him but the damage had been done.

Lastly, we can believe the lie that says God doesn't understand what we go through. God doesn't understand pain, betrayal, or anger. That is how the enemy wants us viewing God. As some aloof deity unconcerned about how we are feeling. But we know that is a lie. We know it is a lie because of our key verse today...Jesus wept. The Lord of all creation wept. The Alpha and Omega and author and finisher of our faith wept. What would move the Everlasting God to tears? Was it some cataclysmic disaster? Was it some war of man on a grand scale? No. It was feeling the pain of His friends. Chapter 11 of the Gospel of John tells the story of the death of Lazarus. Who exactly was Lazarus?

Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. John 11:5

These were friends of Jesus. Remember, Jesus was 100% God and 100% man while He walked the earth. He experienced all we would in our lives. He had friends, people He cared deeply for, people He loved. Still, Jesus would delay going to see Lazarus and by the time He arrived, Lazarus had died.

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. "Where have you laid him?" he asked. "Come and see, Lord," they replied. Jesus wept. John 11: 32-35

So we come back to our key verse. Jesus wept. Is Jesus deeply moved in His spirit and troubled because of the passing of Lazarus? I do not believe so. Earlier in the chapter here was the reaction of Jesus to the news that Lazarus was ill:

When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." John 11: 4

Jesus being 100% God already knew how the story of Lazarus would end. He tells us this in verse 4 by saying He will be glorified through these events! Picture this from Jesus point of view. He loves Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. He knows full well that by his delay, Lazarus would indeed die. He knows that this has to happen in order for the raising of Lazarus to bring glory to the Father. Towards the end of this chapter, we find many put their faith in Jesus because of this incident. So from His Godly side, Jesus understands that the events had to unfold as they did. But His human side was greatly troubled at the pain it caused three friends of His, who the Bible tells us He loved. As He comes into town, Martha approaches Him and says if he had been there Lazarus would not have died. Jesus tries to assure her by letting her know that Lazarus will rise again! But Martha's grief is overwhelming and she confuses what Jesus is trying to say with the resurrection promised at the last day. Jesus has to remind her of all she has forgotten in her grief:

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" John 11: 25-26

Mary then comes and collapses at the feet of Jesus, also saying Lazarus would not have died if He had been there. Jesus seeing the faith of both Martha and Mary faltering, seeing the pain and sorrow in their hearts, and the doubt of those looking on finally breaks down Himself. He weeps. He does not weep because Lazarus has passed because He knows in two minutes he will be raised from the dead! He weeps because He is a God that feels our pain. He sees our turmoil. He is at our right hand beloved and when we hurt, it does touch the heart of God. The Psalmist reminds us:

You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. Psalm 56: 8 (NLT)

God does not waste a hurt beloved. He collects our tears and records our pain. He will use everything we go through to grow us closer to Him for His glory only. He tracks our sorrows because He cares. He is not off on a cloud somewhere glaring down at us; just waiting to throw a lightening bolt into our lives. He is not aloof and detached, preferring to deal only with the more serious matters. Everything matters to Him! He understands that if you follow His guidance for all of the little problems, you will not have to deal with larger problems later. The sad truth is it is us who become aloof too often. We excuse the little things to avoid having to hear God say "no." Then we run to Him when all hell breaks loose in our life. He will forgive. He desires repentance. But oh how much less pain would we face if we simply included Him in everything!

Lastly, God knows exactly how we feel. He felt it too. Feeling betrayed? Jesus was betrayed by someone closer to Him than a brother. Pain, sadness, disappointment? God sent His Son to show us the way to heaven but also to bring the Almighty God into our sphere of experience. He is always at our right hand. At the times when God feels distant we must realize that it is us who has moved.

Jesus wept beloved. He came to earth in mortal frame to experience what we would go through. Trials and temptations from the devil himself. Pain and suffering in a human body. Tears and sorrows for the Father to record. Because He wept He can understand anything we go through in this life. He can relate. He is not a plaster God. He is not a God made of wood or stone. He is real. He is in the flesh. He lives, He loves, He laughs, He weeps.

Jesus wept. Thank God today that He did!

Reverend Anthony Wade October 5, 2010