URC Daily Devotion 20th June 2025
St John 11: 28 – 37
When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, ‘The Teacher is here and is calling for you.’ And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’
They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’
Jesus began to weep.
So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’
But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?’
Reflection
Today’s reading is of course the central section of a longer story. It is good to read the whole passage and see the whole picture. But it can also be helpful to explore just one verse or phrase. I wonder which verse jumps out for you, and what thoughts and feelings it prompts?
Writing this, for me, it is verse 35. In many English translations John 11: 35 is the shortest verse in the bible. It is sometimes used as an expletive. Here we have a longer version; ‘Jesus began to weep’. A couple of verses earlier we had seen that Jesus was deeply moved.
Traditional theology asserts that God is perfect. Therefore God is immutable, incapable of change. It follows that God is therefore impassible. In other words God is incapable of having emotions, because emotions are feelings which change us, both internally and in how we present to others.
Yet here we have the Son of God very clearly showing emotions. Jesus is moved and upset by what has happened to his friend, and is empathising with those around. He cries. He is utterly human.
Theologians from Augustine to Moltmann and beyond have wrestled with this apparent paradox.
I cannot explain, or give a deep theological treatise. But I can say that for me this is part of the wonder of the Trinity. We have God, perfect and solid as a rock, yet in Jesus able to come alongside, empathise with our emotions, rejoicing when we rejoice, and weeping with us when we are in pain or distress. What comfort that short verse can bring.
Prayer
Oh God, our rock,
thank you that in Jesus you are with us in all life’s ups and downs.
Through your empathetic love may we find new strength and peace.
And may we also recognise those moments when we are called to be your arms of love for others.
Amen.