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Divine Time Episode VIII Last week, fam, we got a glimpse at the heart an' soul of Jesus' homegurl, Mary, az she fell at His feet, in a turgid mix of grief an' relief, being "honest to God" in her aching affirmation: "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Word. Now, we check Jesus response to dat, an' tha whole wack impact of His homebwoy Lazarus' death--upon Him. An' we must dare to go therre. We mus step reverently up into this. We need to dump our foot gear, cuz we are on holy ground. We gonna peer into tha heart of Jesus of Nazareth—Jesus Christ—in a time of deep personal crisis. Yo, we gonna peep tha very heart of God…Himself. At dis point in his Gospel narrative, Jesus' bwoy John pauses to drop some helpful 411 datz important to grasp an' marinate on, in order to clearly understand where Jesus iz at: "Therefore when Jesus saw her (Mary) weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, he groaned in spirit and was troubled." I wanna focus on two thangs happenin' to Jesus right here: he "groaned in spirit" and "was troubled." Yo, the verb "groaned" in New Testament Greek is a compound verb made from the words for "in" and "strength."* The idea bein' that Jesus wuz deeply moved, emotionally and painfully. Jesus felt—deeply felt--Mary's pain, an' the mourners' pain, an' it worsened an' ill amplified His own pain. In fact, itz all good to spit dat--of all tha peepz on tha scene, Jesus' ill hurt an' grieved tha most. *Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words An' check it: Gospel man John don't jus stop at "groaned." He goez on an dropz the adjective "troubled," too, to madd emphasize the crazy state of Jesus' intense personal emotional turmoil. In fact, John's narrative can be rephrased to read: "…He troubled Himself…" Tha point? Jesus did not spare Himself from completely feelin' the Pain of losin' a homie. Yo, He fully embraced the aching, dislocating, inner agitation of soul an' spirit, that death of a loved one causes. He spared himself none of death's wackness. Furthermore, it is not until the garden of Gethsemane--when He faced the Cross in all it'z agony an' soul-crushing horror--that we see Jesus all worked up like dis. So, not only wuz Jesus madd hurtin' over his homiez' drama, he be hurtin' infinitely more than they be. "But whatz up wit dat ?!" one might axe. "Why He bustin' an aorta over katz like Mary, Martha an Lazarus? They weren't celeb'z, mang. They wuz "nobodies!." An' that'z the point. Yo, Jesus' din't navigate the "best circlez" of Judea, nor crack tha Galilee Blue Book to pick peeps to form His Set. God—the God of the Universe--picked His homiez from tha "ordinary, erryday" peeps of his day. Peep dis: God'z wayz ain't our wayz. Hiz thotz ain't like our thotz. God don't look at all tha floss, at whatz bumpin'on tha outside. He focuses str8 up on what goin' on tha inside--in tha inner person. He always go fo' substance over style. Jesus Christ condescended to care for, hurt wit, grieve over, and mad love His fam--fam like you and me. And He madd Loves His fam that same way…today. So, to get back to our story, Jesus, completely wracked wit inner trauma, axes Mary an' her sobbin' posse: "Where did you put him (Lazarus)?" An' they replied: "Lord, come and see." And His response? "Jesus wept." How hallowed. How human. Yo, it's that simple. But, it's also profound almost beyond understanding. The shortest verse in the Bible concisely captures the very Heart of God. Jesus wept. Jesus…wept. And, fam, I believe Jesus weeps still. I believe He wept for erry one of tha 2,462 homiez posted on Gangstyle'z Remembrance Page since our syght first dropped. I believe He ill wept fo the survivin' fam who lost they homiez. He wept fo' the 5000+ peeps destroyed in gang violence in L.A., since 1981.* He wept fo' the 30% of those 5000 who died as innocent bystanders. And…He weeps wit erry one of us in all of our life's losses. Only a heart az great az Jesus Christ's could ill bear this monstrous Pain. An', because His Heart is that great, He can share an' bear our pain, as well. *www.whywebang.com Jesus wept. Jesus weeps. Jesus loves. Jesus…cares. Peace. I'm out. ONE sun John 3:30 |