no flannel-graph Jesus

Spring arrived last week. Dogwoods and redbuds bloom along the roads, yellow and purple and pink flowers unfurl in the sunshine. Everything is green. In the park near my house, I saw a baby squirrel a few days ago. Tiny paws, wispy tale, querying eyes. Today, girls twirled in Easter dresses, silk and tulle-garbed princesses. The swirling harmony of string instruments was a special Easter treat at church. I need these glimpses of beauty because it seems like every time I turn around someone else's world is shattered.

Last week, Tom (campus minister here) preached on John 11. The tomb of Lazarus. We’ve all heard the story, seen the fuzzy flannel-graph images. Lazarus dead and buried before Jesus even arrives on the scene. Mary and Martha, the grieving sisters, ask Jesus why he didn’t come sooner. Where were you, Jesus? Don’t you care? Why didn’t you come make this right? Who could blame them for wondering? Lazarus was their beloved brother and he was Jesus’ friend, too. He could have stopped it.

But though he waited, Jesus wept with these women. I never really thought about the fact that Jesus knew healing lay ahead even as he wept. He knew Lazarus would walk from that tomb in ten minutes. He knew his power over death was real. He knew that God was at work. But he still sobbed. He cried real tears, shoulders shaking, missing his friend, hurting with Mary and Martha. He knew death was temporary but still he ached over the pain and separation and disease that wraps its icy fingers around the world.

Not only did he cry, but he was angry. Verse 33 and 38 talk about Jesus being “deeply moved” and “troubled” which seems to imply purely inner turmoil. But apparently, in the original language, these phrases mean that Jesus quaked with rage and grunted in anger. The brokenness of this world rattled him to the core. He breathed heavily, cried out, and was visibly shaken by the sickness that claimed his friend’s life and Mary and Martha with tear-stained faces and listless questions. I always seem to think of Jesus as calm and composed, the man with the plan. But someone knowing the end didn’t stop Jesus from fully entering the pain of the present with his people and ultimately conquering death completely. Happy Easter!