MONDAY January 27th
I am returning to the miracle of the raising of Lazarus from the dead again because there is something so special that we can learn about Jesus and it is found in the shortest verse in the whole of Scripture, which contains just two words, yet they are so powerful, ‘Jesus wept’, (v35).
Yes, the miracle was going to be ‘for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it’, (v4) but it also shows powerfully to us and especially to those who had gathered at Lazarus’ home something of the humanity of Jesus. It says that when they saw Jesus’ weeping, they said these words ‘See how he loved him!’ (v36)
Why can I sing and mean the words of the song that is the basis for these devotions, ‘Jesus the very thought of thee with sweetness fills my breast’? Well, there are a number of reasons but the one reason within the context today is because this Jesus who I have come to know and to love is a compassionate Saviour, and because he is God, we can look at some verses from the Old Testament that remind us of his compassion.
Psalm 103:13 ‘As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.’ The very next verse says this ‘For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.’ Yes, the compassionate Saviour understands all about us, and we can say he understands more than we sometimes realise, because he himself became a man and suffered in all the same ways as we do, but he did so without sin (Hebrews 14:14-16).
When we mourn the loss of a loved ones, he has been there, and as he wept he understands our weeping and our grieving hearts, he knew what it was to be despised, rejected and hated, he knew what it was like to suffer, he even understood tiredness, weariness and hunger, Therefore he is more than willing and more able than anyone else to come alongside us and to help us through all our life circumstances.
Often in the New Testament as Jesus went about the many and varied circumstances that he found himself in, it says that as he looked and as he saw he was moved with compassion. When he saw the weak, the helpless and hopeless, the sick and the possessed. Those who were outcasts, those who had plenty or nothing he was moved with a heart of compassion toward them. And he is still the same sympathising and compassionate Saviour today, he knows all about us, he cares deeply for us and every day his heart is moved towards us.
The first verse of my all-time favourite hymn speaks of his compassion,
Love Divine, all love excelling,
Joy of heav’n, to earth come down;
Fix in us Thy humble dwelling.
All Thy faithful mercies crown.
Jesus, Thou art all compassion;
Pure, unbounded love Thou art;
Visit us with Thy salvation,
Enter every trembling heart.
Jesus thou art all compassion—allow him to come and to visit you today and to not only give you his salvation, but also his cheer, to come alongside you and to lift you out of your weariness, for who can cheer the heart like Jesus.