Coming off of a great weekend celebrating the resurrection of Jesus through Easter, I was quickly reminded that we live in a broken world. Really, it’s easy to see that when we look around. There is pain, anger, despair, and a longing for something better that most of us see on a regular basis. We see news reports of attacks in this country and around the world, but sometimes it doesn’t sink in that this truly is a broken world.
My reminder came with a phone call that most people in ministry dread. A young mom had just lost her baby in the womb. I won’t go into detail about the situation, but it quickly reminded me that I long for something better. No one should have to deal with an innocent death like this.
Jesus understands our pain, however, because he lived in this world as well. A fellow minister gave me a great example of this when offering support this week. He called it a “Jesus wept” moment. The shortest but one of the most meaningful verses in the Bible is John 11:35, which simply states, “Jesus wept”. This was because one of his friends had just died, but he also knew he was about to raise Lazarus from the dead. Jesus weeping was more because of the pain that the other people involved were feeling, and he took the time to weep with them.
While this is a broken world, with all that pain and suffering that we see, as Christians we have the hope of a better world. That’s what this past weekend of Easter was all about. It was celebrating Jesus conquering death and the grave. Jesus going to the cross to pay the price for our sins, and then raising back to life gives us the hope that death is not final. Take heart, because our savior has conquered death. I Corinthians 15:55-57 puts it this way; “‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Thoughts from a Crosseyed Jesus Freak
Thoughts from a Crosseyed Jesus Freak 