Thoughts from the Mind of a Learner (Corrected)

"We need to stop parroting what we ought, but say what we feel" ~Professor Steve Leeper

Main Idea of this Blog:
Hey Bloggers! Today, for my blog, I am going to delve into something that hit me wrong (Big Blog Section) that was brought up both in the reading for last Tuesday's class and in the class itself, then wright about some more light-hearted things (Little Blog Section). 

The Big Blog Section:

At first, I did not want to bring up the subject in blog because I thought that maybe, it was just the book. However, after class, I decided to propose a counter reasoning as to why Jesus wept at the grave of Lazarus. 

The text (Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy & Fairy Tale by Frederick Buechner) suggests that Jesus wept because God had let the death of "His only friend", who wasn't a literal follower, die, and that Jesus did not feel God's presence.

This argument would be entirely acceptable, in my mind, if not for two details: who Jesus was, and the Bible. 

Although Jesus was in fact human, He was ALSO God. He could not be separated from His Father even if he tried. Jesus had a unique connection with God that no one else on earth has ever had or will ever have hence forth. For instance, we, who are human, must pray in order to have direct conversation with God, however, Jesus, who was both fully human AND fully God, didn't even need to pray to have direct communication with His Father. This brings me to the second detail and that is of the Bible.

In John 11:3-4, news of Lazarus' illness was delivered to Jesus. The direct quote is this, "³ So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”⁴ But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” (ESV). That in it's self, from my view, is evidence enough that Jesus did not weep because He didn't feel God's presence, but I will supply the additional evidence that one might desire. Later in the chapter, Jesus' disciples didn't really want to go because they figured that old Lazzi-boy was going to get better on his own strength from the sickness Jesus mentioned. It was then the Jesus said something fascinating. "¹⁴ Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, ¹⁵ and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” (John 11:14-15, ESV) What does this mean for the argument Buechner brought up? Well, according to the Bible, Jesus knew that Lazarus would die, and that he was already dead. He stayed the extra two days in the place that He was so that God could get all the glory. This suggests that Jesus knew God's plan all along, and, thus, could not have been weeping because He didn't feel God's presence.

If Jesus wasn't weeping because He did not feel God's presence, why was He crying? Well, a while back,  I heard a sermon by Andy Stanley that really helped answer the question for me, because I knew that he knew God's plan, but why in the world was he crying? John 11:32-35 says this, "³² Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. ³⁴ And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”³⁵ Jesus wept."(ESV, bold and italics my own). Now, that was a lot of info that at first might seem pointless. However, upon closer examination of the word "moved", we discover that the Greek would more accurately transfer as "indignant". According to the World English Dictionary, indignation (–n) means "anger or scorn aroused by something felt to be unfair, unworthy, or wrong". Jesus was not "moved" as though He had just seen Marley and Me, He was angry or scornful because something was wrong.

In the message I heard Pastor Stanley preach, he dissected the passage more then my ability, but I can at least convey why it seems Jesus was upset. He was vexed because the ones he loved dearly did not believe that Jesus was Lord. They knew He could perform miraculous signs, but when it came down to it, they treated Him like a prophet rather then the Son of God. Jesus wept because they did not have faith in what He was able to do. Mary said, "... if you had been here, my brother would not have died." She saw death as the end, rather then an opportunity.

I believe that there is truth in the words Buechner, in that as a fully human individual, He did experience sadness, I am just suggesting that there is more to Jesus' sadness then just that His friend died. He was fully God as well, thus, by the lack of faith shown by the ones He cared about, perhaps even the most, He was grieved.

If you read all of the above, thank you very much for your time! This is merely my opinion, and I am totally up for discussion if you see things differently, though, I ask that you would message me on Facebook rather then get a conversation going on this blog post. Thanks again! 

The Little Blog Section:

So, apparently, I'm rather like a pineapple in that I am brunette on the outside, but blonde on the inside. The purpose of the last blog was supposed to let you know about me, and I did not really understand that. So, this is a fun fact about me blog! Yay!

"To live is Christ, and to die is gain."I live for Jesus, and I try to bring Him glory in everything I say and do. I went on a mission trip to Ukraine earlier this summer, and I fell in love. <3 Drawing is what I do, but I also love music, dance, humor, and surprise. I have a secret passion for making people look good, and for me to be smelling good. I did competitive speech for the last four years out of my twelve years of home education. I am SUPER random at times. My laugh sounds like a goose. I love potatoes.

That's basically me. If you want to know me better, send me a friend request on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/kcinderella1194). From hence forth, I will say a random fact at the end of my blogs so that you can learn random, and, hopefully, fun tidbits about me. 

Thank you for reading my blog!

Blessings!

~Katy Seymour