32 ... Mary went to the place where Jesus was. When she saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 Jesus saw that Mary was crying and that the Jews who came with her were crying, too. Jesus felt very sad in his heart and was deeply troubled. 34 He asked, “Where did you bury him?”
“Come and see, Lord,” they said.
35 Jesus cried.
36 So the Jews said, “See how much he loved him.”
37 But some of them said, “If Jesus healed the eyes of the blind man,
why didn’t he keep Lazarus from dying?”
John 11:32 - 37 International Children's Bible
The painful question
"Lord, you were able to prevent this
but you didn't..."
You who are all powerful all knowing and all love
do not prevent even unspeakable tragedies and cruel suffering
this is so painful
Mary knows what to do with her painful questions
She comes straight to You
brings it right to you
You answer in tears
"Jesus wept"
in several translations it translates Jesus was deeply moved
as Jesus was very angry
the Greek word is a very strong word denoting very strong and deep emotion
We sometimes feel like Jesus is standing idly by
dispassionately knowing and observing our suffering
and not caring
But he is weeping
touched with all the feelings of our infirmities, our weaknesses, our humanity
Mary comes to Jesus
falls at his feet
and brings her painful question to Him
My grief and suffering and pain can drive me away from you
harden my heart
slowly my life begins to revolve around this hurt
becoming a black hole
twisting and distorting and sucking down all light
a place from which there is no escape
a place from which there is no escape
But you invite me to touch You
in the very places You were broken
crushed
scorned
mocked
despised
rejected
abandoned
You seek me out even in the midst of my struggling
19 It was the first day of the week. That evening Jesus’ followers were together. The doors were locked, because they were afraid of the Jews. Then Jesus came and stood among them. He said, “Peace be with you!”20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. His followers were very happy when they saw the Lord....
24 Thomas (called Didymus) was not with the followers when Jesus came. Thomas was 1 of the 12. 25 The other followers told Thomas, “We saw the Lord.”
But Thomas said, “I will not believe it until I see the nail marks in his hands. And I will not believe until I put my finger where the nails were and put my hand into his side.”
26 A week later the followers were in the house again. Thomas was with them. The doors were locked, but Jesus came in and stood among them. He said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here. Look at my hands. Put your hand here in my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
John 20:19 - 20 ICB
What Jesus gave to Thomas was himself
"put your finger here.
look at my hands.
put your hand here in my side"
In the midst of my grief and struggles
YOU come saying, 'Peace be with you!"
YOU offer to me
not reasons
or explanations
or my why's answered
You invite me to touch YOU
where you were pierced
where you were rejected by those you came to love and save
where you were cruelly mocked and scorned
where you despised and abandoned
even by your Heavenly Father
"My God! My God! Why have you Forsaken Me?"
Yes LORD
I see you
there is peace in you alone
Your love reaching out to me in a broken and scarred body
your willingness to suffer
not because you had to
but because you chose to love
You could have prevented but you didn't
18 No one takes it away from me.
I give my own life freely.
I have the right to give my life,
and I have the right to take it back.
John 10:18
I give my own life freely.
I have the right to give my life,
and I have the right to take it back.
John 10:18
19 Then Pilate ordered that Jesus be taken away and whipped. 2 The soldiers used some thorny branches to make a crown. They put this crown on Jesus’ head and put a purple robe around him. 3 Then they came to Jesus many times and said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They hit Jesus in the face.
4 Again Pilate came out and said to them, “Look! I am bringing Jesus out to you. I want you to know that I find nothing I can charge against him.” 5 Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is the man!”
6 When the leading priests and the guards saw Jesus they shouted, “Kill him on a cross! Kill him on a cross!”
But Pilate answered, “Take him and nail him to a cross yourselves. I find nothing I can charge against him.”
7 The Jews answered, “We have a law that says he should die, because he said he is the Son of God.”
8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid. 9 He went back inside the palace and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus did not answer him. 10 Pilate said, “You refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know that I have power to set you free and power to have you killed on a cross?”
11 Jesus answered, “The only power you have over me is the power given to you by God. The man who gave me to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
12 After this, Pilate tried to let Jesus go free. But the Jews cried out, “Anyone who makes himself king is against Caesar. If you let this man go free, you are not Caesar’s friend.”
13 Pilate heard what the Jews were saying. So he brought Jesus out to the place called The Stone Pavement. (In the Jewish language[a] the name is Gabbatha.) Pilate sat down on the judge’s seat there. 14 It was about six o’clock in the morning on Preparation Day of Passover week. Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your king!”
15 They shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Kill him on a cross!”
Pilate asked them, “Do you want me to kill your king on a cross?”
The leading priests answered, “The only king we have is Caesar!”
16 So Pilate gave Jesus to them to be killed on a cross.
Jesus Is Killed on a Cross
The soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17 Carrying his own cross, Jesus went out to a place called The Place of the Skull. (In the Jewish language[b]this place is called Golgotha.) 18 There they nailed Jesus to the cross. They also put two other men on crosses, one on each side of Jesus with Jesus in the middle. 19 Pilate wrote a sign and put it on the cross. It read: “JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” 20 The sign was written in the Jewish language, in Latin, and in Greek. Many of the Jews read the sign, because this place where Jesus was killed was near the city. 21 The leading Jewish priests said to Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The King of the Jews.’ But write, ‘This man said, I am the King of the Jews.’”
22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written!”
23 After the soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross, they took his clothes. They divided them into four parts. Each soldier got one part. They also took his long shirt. It was all one piece of cloth, woven from top to bottom. 24 So the soldiers said to each other, “We should not tear this into parts. We should throw lots to see who will get it.” This happened to give full meaning to the Scripture:
So the soldiers did this.
25 Jesus’ mother stood near his cross. His mother’s sister was also standing there, with Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 Jesus saw his mother. He also saw the follower he loved standing there. He said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son.” 27 Then he said to the follower, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this follower took her to live in his home.
Jesus Dies
28 After this, Jesus knew that everything had been done. To make the Scripture come true, he said, “I am thirsty.”[c] 29 There was a jar full of vinegar there, so the soldiers soaked a sponge in it. Then they put the sponge on a branch of a hyssop plant and lifted it to Jesus’ mouth. 30 Jesus tasted the vinegar. Then he said, “It is finished.” He bowed his head and died.
Yes Lord,
l see you
You are saying
"Here I am
touch me
put your finger here
put your hand here
trust me
there is so much you do not understand now
but see me
know me
trust me
love me
and be at peace
18 Christ himself died for you.
And that one death paid for your sins.
He was not guilty,
but he died for those who are guilty.
He did this to bring you all to God.
His body was killed, but he was made alive in the spirit. I Peter 3:18 ICB
My Lord and My God
I love you
That’s what Christ did definitively:
suffered because of others’ sins,
the Righteous One
for the unrighteous ones.
He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—
to bring us to God.
I Peter 3:18 The Message
That’s what Christ did definitively:
suffered because of others’ sins,
the Righteous One
for the unrighteous ones.
He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—
to bring us to God.
I Peter 3:18 The Message
Who has believed our message?
To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?
2 My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot,
like a root in dry ground.
There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,
nothing to attract us to him.
3 He was despised and rejected—
a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
He was despised, and we did not care.
To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?
2 My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot,
like a root in dry ground.
There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,
nothing to attract us to him.
3 He was despised and rejected—
a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
He was despised, and we did not care.
4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
it was our sorrows[a] that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
a punishment for his own sins!
5 But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.
6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
the sins of us all.
it was our sorrows[a] that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
a punishment for his own sins!
5 But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.
6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
the sins of us all.
Isaiah 53: 1-6 TLB
