Pastor's Letter

“AND JESUS WEPT.”

There is no greater miracle in the gospels than Jesus bringing someone who has died back to life.  There are three recorded times when Jesus did this—and they were all done in a spirit of compassion.
 
His heart went out to the woman in Nain, and so gave life again to her son as they were mourning his loss (Luke 7:11-15).  His heart when out to Jairus, a synagogue official whose daughter was sick and then passed away.  He raised her up and gave her back to her parents (Mark 5:22-43).  And today, we hear the passage of Jesus calling his friend Lazarus from the tomb back to life (John 11:1-44).
 
It’s the one time in scripture we hear that Jesus cried.  It’s also one of the shortest sentences in the bible.  And so it has the power to touch our own hearts.  Scholars argue over what touched Jesus at that moment—whether it was tears of anger because Mary and Martha didn’t have the foresight into what Jesus was about to do, or whether it was his love for his friend or his deep sympathy for seeing the impact it had on Lazarus’ sisters, or a combination of all of them.
 
We will never know for sure., but it does give us an insight into God the Son.  In his human nature, he knows our emotions and so he knows what it feels like to go through loss.
 
Jesus knows sadness, anger, and hurt, but he also knows love and heartfelt compassion. 
 
And so, he knows and connects with whatever emotion we are feeling today as we read this brief letter.  During this uncertain time, when there are a range of emotions, a range of fear, a feeling of loss for what’s normal, and what’s becoming more acute—the reality of feeling more isolated—Jesus understands it. 
 
His message is not to run away from him, but to bring what we’re going through to him: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28-30).  Jesus helps us carry it.  We rest knowing he’s with us, which is also the message of that well known poem about the footprints in the sand.  The author only sees one set of footprints on the beach thinking he was alone as he went through very difficult times.  He thought God abandoned him. But by the end of the poem, he realizes that he’d been carried all along.  The footprints were Jesus’.
 
Jesus brought Lazarus back to life to show us that, in him, we have life.  We may feel isolated and feel like we’re in a tomb; we may feel very scared about the unknown or about getting sick, but Jesus is the One who will help us rise through it.  He is the hope we hold onto. 
 
And he is the One who will bring us back together again so that we can reconnect with one another and truly lift up our hearts to the Lord—together as a family of faith.  We long for Christ in the Eucharist, which we cannot share right now. And so, it makes us long for the moment when he will call out our names to come out of the darkness and back into the light.  He is the Word made flesh and the Bread of Life we need.
 
He is our strength.  May God hold us together in his hands, 
 
          —Fr. Mike