Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1889-07-06
Sunday RtaaiHs,
EDITED BY REV. f. L. LEEPER.
Jesus Wept.
Christian Index.

This is the shortest verse in the
Bible, and one of the most familiar.
Millions upon millions of minds have
been put under arrest by this brief
but startling expression. Who ever
read it without a seeming surprise,
which for the moment excluded all
other thought? 1t seems to bring us
more into sympathy with the blessed
Lord than any other record that is
made of him. Oh, he was so human!
He was in deed and in truth one of
us. Weeping seems like sign of
weakness; and weakness is just what
we love. Some things we admire,
and by some things we are awe
struck, but weakness wins us. We
know that we ourselves are weak,
and the same quality in others begets
a fellow-feeling, and makes brothers
of us. Not every kind of weakness is
thus. There is a weakness which
springs from cowardice; this disgusts
and repels, But the weakness that
springs from tenderness draws us
and two souls thus affected melt into
one. Tears are a great power. Those
who weep together can never be alien
ated. Christ has wept over our sins,
and we have wept over his sorrows,
and he and we are one.
Multitudes have derived a sweet
comfort from the words "Jesus wept,"
without being able either to describe
that comfort or tell the reason of it.
Like little children they take the
soothing potion and enjoy it without
making inquiries as to its nature.
Has it ever occurred to you, reader,
to inquire achy it was that Jesus
wept? We are apt, without thought,
to imagine that he wept at the grave
of Lazarus, just as his sisters, Mary
and Martha, wept, and just as we all
do at the loss of friend. This is
what those who were present thought,
for they said, "Behold, how he loved
him." But this must have been a
mistaken Interpretation of the tears
of the Lord Jesus, for he knew that
there was no loss. He knew that in
a few minutes Lazarus would be alive
again. To him, therefore, the dead
Lazarus was only sleeping Lazarus,
to awake and arise the moment his
name was called; hence there was
with him no occasion for weeping.
Neither was there the shock of sud-
den intelligence, for Lazarus had been
dead four days, and the Lord knew
the fact as soon as it occurred. He
was thirty miles away at the time,
and he said that he was glad that he
was not present when Lazarus died,
assigning as a reason, that in some
way the faith of his disciples was to
be benefited thereby.
Why then did he weep? The re-
cord does not say, but it states the
fact that he wept Hhen he Sdao the 9TH
ers weep. His tears were not from
the sorrow or bereavement, but from
sympathy. 1t was for their sakes
that he wept, not for his own. He
adopted their feelings and made them
his own, fulfilling the prophecy,
Surely he hath borne our griefs and
carried our sorrows" Is. lii. 4. He
knew that they were soon to be re-
lieved Of their agony by the restora'
ton of their brother to life, but even
their short-lived sorrow was enough
to stir the fountains of his sympathy
He entered into all their feelings and
was one of them. With the wisdom
Of the infinite, yet he was like a lit
tie child thai weeps when it sees
others weep. Oh, that tender heart
And did that heart throb in the
breast of Him who was strong enough
to bear the sins of the whole world:
Was he great enough to take this aw
full burden, and was he yet gentle
enough to bear our light affections
which are but for a moment?
"Thou, o Christ, art all want,
More than all in thee find.
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
Heal the sick, and lead the blind.
Just and holy is thy Name.
am all unrighteousness;
Vile and full of sin am,
Thou art full of truth and grace"
Oh, yes, one may say, this was al
very precious at the time, but Chris
was on earth then; he is not her
now, and besides this, the tende
scene occurred long time ago. All
but Christ is here now, not visibly in
deed, but as really as when he wep
with Mary and Martha. Did he no