Pastor’s Point to Ponder

"Jesus began to weep." Some other translations have it as "And Jesus wept." However you translate verse 31 of John’s Gospel Chapter 11, it is important to note that this is the smallest sentence in scripture referring to Jesus and yet also one of the most profound. Jesus wept because he loved his friend Lazarus and didn’t want to see him succumb to the ravages of death. Emotional responses to tragic circumstances and sad events are a part of the human condition. We can’t avoid them or deny their existence. They help us come to terms with what has happened and the value the person was in our lives. The Jews who were observing Jesus’ weeping even remarked, "See how much he loved him!" Do we ever see ourselves as a type of Lazarus, as a dear friend of Jesus? Do we ever see our sins as killing the life of the spirit we have received in baptism and causing Jesus sorrow and anguish? Mary says, "Lord if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died." When we distance ourselves from Christ and from his Church, we leave ourselves vulnerable to sin, to death, to destruction. Perhaps if we stopped and reflected every so often, we might not offend Christ so much. We would spare him some tears for us. Perhaps if we stopped and reflected every so often about Jesus’ death, we would weep ourselves for the loss of so holy, so visionary a man and God! Some points to ponder as Holy Week approaches.