Wednesday 09 August 2023

Psalm 95

Background

Our reading today continues the story of raising Lazarus from the dead. Yesterday we reflected on timing and it would seem that timing is still important. Martha wastes no time and immediately goes and gets her sister Mary, who in turn wastes no time in going to Jesus. Jesus is still working in his own time; he doesn’t rush to the village or to Lazarus' tomb; he just waits.

This section of the Lazarus story is famous for containing the shortest verse in the English language Bible. Of course this is not true in every version of the Bible, but this has become fact due to the Authorised version simply saying, "Jesus wept." (v.35)

In the Peshitta, which is the standard version of the Bible used in the Syriac traditions, verse 35 is translated, ‘And the tears of Jesus came’. 

The tears of Jesus in this passage have been discussed and debated since they first fell. The professional mourners, who were with Mary and Martha, were the first to comment on them and they had the first discussion about what his tears meant. The Greek word ‘dakruō’ is the root of this verse and implies gentle weeping, a personal sadness, with personal tears, very unlike the ‘klaiō’ of the professional mourners, who had travelled from Jerusalem. Theirs was a much noisier form of crying and mourning, wailing aloud to show their grief.

Jesus’ tears were different enough to get him noticed, they were much more personal. There has been much written about why Jesus would cry when he knew what was coming. Were his tears due to frustration or even anger?  Paul writes in Romans 12 that we should weep with those who weep (v.15), so maybe it was just love and compassion that made Jesus weep.

Sometimes we just need to be comforted and be among friends who will do this with true compassion. Whenever I read this passage, I always get the sense of Jesus truly caring about how his friends are feeling. I do understand the academic and theological debates that go on about how the translation of a word can change an understanding, and how it can be applied to this passage, but sometimes you just need somebody who will wait for you and cry with you. For Mary and Martha that person was Jesus. Regardless of the reason, faced with the sadness of Mary and Martha, Jesus wept.

To Ponder:

• How does it make you feel to know that Jesus is waiting for you, and that when you come to him with your grief, anger, pain, etc, he will cry with you?
• Are there times in your life when you should just sit and wait, and not rush headlong into whatever it is that is going on?

Prayer

Compassionate God, help us to come to the one who is waiting for us. Help us to cry out and share our pain and suffering so that we can know the comfort of your love and compassion around us. Amen.