Reflection: Jesus wept

Have you experienced heartache?  My Dad died at a young age.  I was heartbroken for a long time.  I was the firstborn and my Dad and I had a special bond.  I knew he loved me and I felt his love was unconditional. What a beautiful gift!  That is the love of the Father.

So the sisters Martha and Mary sent word about Lazarus to Jesus saying,  “Master, the one you love is ill.” When Jesus heard this He said, “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”  John 11:3-4

Jesus wept over the death of His friend Lazarus. Martha and Mary were heartbroken at the loss of their beloved brother.  Martha spoke to Jesus from her heart when He arrived four days after Lazarus died.  In His humanity and compassion for the suffering of His friends, Jesus showed us the beauty of expression of emotion when He wept for His friend.

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.  When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home.  Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.  But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.”  Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.”  Martha said, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.  Do you believe this?”  She said to him, “Yes, Lord.  I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”  He became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?”  They said to him, “Sir, come and see.”  And Jesus wept.  John 11:17-35

Jesus showed us the love He had in His friendship with Lazarus and his sisters, Martha and Mary.  He showed us how important friendship is.  I am blessed that the Lord has given me beautiful friendships.  They are loving and trustworthy.  We laugh and cry together and we are with one another in times of joy and sorrow.

"Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter: whoever finds one has found a treasure.  Faithful friends are beyond price; no amount can balance their worth.  Faithful friends are life-saving medicine; and those who fear the Lord will find them.”  Sirach 6:14-16 

Saint Irenaeus, Early Father of the Church, wrote in Against Heresies, "The glory of God is man fully alive, and the life of man is the vision of God. If the revelation of God through creation already brings life to all living beings on the earth, how much more will the manifestation of the Father by the Word bring life to those who see God."  

Jesus used the death and resurrection of His friend Lazarus to show the glory of God.  Jesus is our friend. When we experience sadness and loss, Jesus is there in the middle of it.  He will use our suffering when we offer it to Him.  He gives us faithful friends to help us along the way.  Let us turn to Jesus and trust in Him in all things.  He will never abandon us.  Jesus knows the pain of being abandoned by His friends.  He is with us always and He gave us His Blessed Mother Mary to accompany us and to intercede for us.  She is our Mother and she is always with us.  She knows sorrow and suffering.  She loves us and holds us under her beautiful mantle of protection and peace.

I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from My Father.  John 15:15