Jesus Christ. The name of...
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Jesus Christ. The name of the Savior embodies the dilemma of the incarnation. Fully divine, fully human; who is this Jesus, who is this Christ?
When Jimmy was sixteen years old, his grandmother died. Jimmy's family had moved far from his father's family many years before and Jimmy didn't know his grandmother very well. Her death was not expected and Jimmy was the only one home when the phone call came. The responsibility of telling his dad about the death fell to Jimmy. His parents were at church for a Sunday school potluck, so Jimmy drove to the church, found his father, and took him aside to give him the news. For the first time in his life, Jimmy saw his father cry. In that awful moment, his father became more real to him than ever before. It was the tears that made him real. It was the tears that connected them in those moments and ever after.
It is the tears shed for Lazarus that connect us with Jesus, the human side of the mystery of incarnation. A Christ can make the blind see. A Christ can make a lame man dance or feed thousands with a snack. A Christ can walk on water, turn water to wine, and make wine into the grace of God. But only tears can make a Christ into a Jesus. The tears make Jesus more like us and they assure us that God understands our pain, our grief, and our humanity. We can thank God for these simple words: Jesus wept.
When Jimmy was sixteen years old, his grandmother died. Jimmy's family had moved far from his father's family many years before and Jimmy didn't know his grandmother very well. Her death was not expected and Jimmy was the only one home when the phone call came. The responsibility of telling his dad about the death fell to Jimmy. His parents were at church for a Sunday school potluck, so Jimmy drove to the church, found his father, and took him aside to give him the news. For the first time in his life, Jimmy saw his father cry. In that awful moment, his father became more real to him than ever before. It was the tears that made him real. It was the tears that connected them in those moments and ever after.
It is the tears shed for Lazarus that connect us with Jesus, the human side of the mystery of incarnation. A Christ can make the blind see. A Christ can make a lame man dance or feed thousands with a snack. A Christ can walk on water, turn water to wine, and make wine into the grace of God. But only tears can make a Christ into a Jesus. The tears make Jesus more like us and they assure us that God understands our pain, our grief, and our humanity. We can thank God for these simple words: Jesus wept.
