A Likeness To Him!

There is a lot that has been written about Jesus. The Gospel accounts and the writing of the Apostles tell us much about our Lord. Toward the end of John’s Gospel, he noted that Jesus did many other things not written, but what was written was so that we could believe and have life in Him. ( John 20:30-31) John also stated that he supposed the world could not contain the books that could be written regarding the things Jesus did while on earth. ( John 21:25)

Within the Scriptures we gain POWERFUL GLIMPSES of our Lord. We should be duly impressed by His life and teachings. His Words are still words of life. ( John 6:68) The recorded actions of Jesus’ walk on earth are still the pattern of steps in which we should follow. ( 1 Peter 2:21) Peter provided what may perhaps be the shortest commentary on the life of Jesus when he referred to His going about doing good. ( Acts 10:38) Then there is one verse -- the shortest verse in the Bible -- which provides a very POWERFUL INSIGHT INTO THE ESSENCE OF JESUS. It is a verse and a thought I frequently refer to when conducting a funeral or memorial service.

John wrote…
“JESUS WEPT.” ( John 11:35 ESV)

The occasion was the death of his friend Lazarus. Lazarus had been dead for four days. ( John 11:39) What prompted those tears? Did Jesus miss his friend who had died? Was His weeping due to a sense of His own personal loss? It appears JESUS WEPT because He was touched by the depth of grief and loss that surrounded Him there. He could see and hear the weeping of Mary and Martha, and all of the others who were present ( John 11:33) and Jesus was deeply moved. His tender heart went out to them even though it was not a hopeless situation, for Jesus went knowing what He was going to do. ( John 11:4 &11)

Someone has said, “We can measure our likeness to Christ by the range of our sensitiveness to the world’s sorrow and pain.” [source: list of sentence sermons]

For us to walk in the steps of Jesus and help this world understand the kind of love Jesus came to reveal, we must maintain a heart that can be touched by the varying situations of life. A shared tear can be a very POWERFUL thing. May our tears not just be for our own situations, but be prompted by our awareness of what others are experiencing. Being moved within will hopefully then move our hands and feet to offer whatever help and support we can give.

Have a great day CULTIVATING A HEART LIKE HIS!
Carl

See other teEn-MAIL on Sympathy