Ezekiel 37:12–14; Romans 8:8–11; John 11:1–45

Recently, one of my students had her classmates journaling a response to “Where will you be in 7 years?” As students eagerly wrote about the adventures and achievements that await them, I pondered my own 7 year plan. In 7 years, I’ll be 70!

While death is always a possibility, as we near 70, it becomes more of an imminent probability. I confess, I am afraid. I am afraid of my own death and the deaths of those I love. I grieve for the ones I’ve lost.

I’ve thought that such fear and sorrow are the opposite of faith. If I believe in the Resurrection, if I truly have faith, what is there to fear?

In the story of Lazarus, though, we learn that “Jesus wept.” Jesus KNEW he could restore Lazarus, and yet “Jesus wept.” He wept in sorrow at the passing of his friend; he wept in compassion for Martha and Mary. Jesus, both fully human and fully divine, wept and then ushered Lazarus from the tomb.

With his tears, Jesus gives me permission to shed my own. A Jesus who weeps is one who understands my pain and sorrow. A Jesus who weeps is a loving, compassionate God to whom I can turn in my human frailty. The Jesus who raises Lazarus is one in whom I can have faith and trust that I, too, may share in the Resurrection.

Nancy Deshler
Upper School, English Teacher
Dean of Humanities

What are the things for which I weep? How can I turn to Jesus about this? How well do I think Jesus will understand?

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