SYMPATHY IN SORROW

JOHN 11:3

A. "WHEN JESUS, THEREFORE, SAW HER WEEPING, AND THE JEWS ALSO WEEPING WHICH CAME WITH HER, HE GROANED IN THE SPIRIT, AND WAS TROUBLED...JESUS WEPT"
  1. The scene:
    1. The home of His close friends where he had enjoyed the loving hospitality of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary on many occasions
    2. The two sisters mourned over the loss of a brother who had been kind to them; they wept
    3. The Jews, too, came to comfort them; they too wept
  2. What the Son of God saw moved Him visibly:
    1. He groaned - He was visibly distressed
    2. He wept - Jesus burst into tears B. THE ATTITUDE OF JESUS ON THAT OCCASION
  3. Showed clearly:
    1. That He was a Man - a human being in the fullest sense of the word - Heb. 2:9-17
    2. Said Pilate, "Behold the Man" - John 19:5
    3. He possessed both Divine and human sympathy - Is. 53:3-4
    4. Of Him it is written, "In all their affliction He was afflicted" - Is. 63:9
    5. "Like as a father pitieth his children so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him" - Ps. 103:13-14
  4. It natural to mourn and Jesus did not rebuke them that mourned:
    1. To the contrary, He too sorrowed; He wept over the death of His close friend
    2. Wrote Paul, "Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep;" - Rom. 12:15
    3. Job entered into the sorrow of others and was deeply moved by their grief - Job 30:25
    4. The Psalmist entered into the sorrow of others - Ps. 35:13-14
  5. The sympathy of friends in time of sorrow:
    1. Is medicine for body, soul and spirit
    2. It is both wine and oil for the broken hearted
    3. Our Lord's mission was to comfort them that are in sorrow and to bind up the wounds of the broken hearted - Is. 61:1; 57:15 C. OUR COMFORT IN SORROW
  6. God's special assurance about the saints that have fallen asleep in Jesus Christ our Lord:
    1. "Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings" - Is. 3:10
    2. "Woe unto the wicked; it shall be ill with him; for the reward of his hands shall be given him" - Is. 3:11
    3. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints" - Ps. 116:15
  7. The truth of the words of the Psalmist are demonstrated by our Lord's attitude at the grave of His friend Lazarus:
    1. He was visibly moved by the sorrow of Martha and Mary and the people present
    2. He wept
  8. But, dear friends, our Lord has done more than enter into the sorrow of the bereaved:
    1. He brought back to life Lazarus His friend
    2. He thus demonstrated the truth that He is the resurrection and the life - John 11:25
    3. He assured Martha, "Thy brother shall rise again" - John 11:23
    4. Said the prophet Isaiah, "Thy dead men shall live together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust; for the dew is as the dew of the herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead" - Is. 26:19-21
  9. The Bible gives some specific reasons for the falling asleep of the saints in the last days:
    1. "Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers and shut the doors about thee; hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast" - Is. 26:20-21
    2. This must have reference to the outpouring of the seven last plagues - for in them is poured out the wrath of God - Rev. 15:1; 16:1; 14: 9: 11
    3. Just before probation closes, a voice from heaven proclaims this comforting message, "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth; Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them" - Rev. 14:13


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