He Draws Near to Us

Good morning Immanuel. Jesus doesn't use His power to avoid us but to draw near to us in grace.

"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." (John11:33)

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

At the sight of the agony and sorrow surrounding the death of Lazarus, John tells us that Jesus was deeply moved and greatly troubled. And what does that mean that our Lord was greatly troubled? It doesn't mean that he was worried about death. It means that he was angry at death. He was distraught over their grief. It's tempting to think that because Jesus is the Son of God, He is insulated from the kinds of sorrow we experience. But that would only be true if Jesus used his power and position to keep us at arm’s length. Christmas is saying to us precisely the opposite. The incarnation of the Son of God means that he used all his power and authority to come near and participate with us. The Apostle Paul says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” (2 Cor. 8:9). In other words, God is so God that he doesn't display his greatness by going up, but by coming down; not by distancing in himself from human suffering like Buddha or like Allah, but by participating in human suffering through his son Jesus Christ.