There's a phrase I've used 11 times so far this morning - “seem to care.” Because it's not that Jesus DOESN'T care, it's that there is something more important than our FEELING of his care....I know, crazy, right? In each circumstance, Jesus chooses what is most caring FROM THE BIG PICTURE OF SALVATION. He lets Lazarus die so that more people are drawn to him by raising Lazarus from the dead. He receives Mary's perfume to enable Judas to start the process of his death. And even if we don't know the big picture behind the times Jesus has seemed uncaring to us, we give Jesus the benefit of the doubt.
Because, to reorder Winston Churchill's quote a little bit, Jesus PROVES his caring for us with tears, sweat, and blood. Jesus sheds tears for Lazarus, or more accurately, he sheds tears for the pain Mary and Martha have gone through, even though he was minutes away from restoring Lazarus to life. Jesus sweats out his final prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, releasing his life for his Father's plan to reconcile us to himself. And Jesus bleeds at the hands of the Romans, as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
I am confident that Jesus sheds tears at our failures and losses, just like I am confident that Jesus shed tears at Tumbler Ridge, for the pain our country experienced, even though in a few short decades, centuries, or millennia, he will raise those who died to the new life of resurrection. I am confident that Jesus is doing the sweaty leg work of preparing new people in our midst to enter the kingdom of God, as well as around the world. And I am confident that next Sunday, Jesus will offer us his blood as a sign of the new covenant, for the forgiveness of our sins.
Gracious God, we thank you for the love you have shown us through the blood, sweat, and tears of your Son Jesus Christ. Help us through those times when we cannot understand the big picture, and help us to release our feelings of abandonment, in Jesus' name, amen.