Jesus Wept

The desert fathers spent weeks meditating on a single phrase from the Bible –
Like ‘Jesus wept’ – the shortest verse in the Bible.
Jesus wept.
I started thinking about it.
Jesus wept.
Not like, his eyes watered.
Or a solitary tear ran down his cheek.
Not even cried.
Wept.
That’s like sobs spewing out of heaving chest
Spilling clumsily into the cold light
Juddering shoulders rocking whole body
Tears mingling with snot as they race down his face,
Too many, too much to wipe away.
Weeping isn’t pretty
– Just pretty awkward.
Weeping wells out of the deep places
Where God and man meet In love and compassion,
Their heart tearing to know the refusal of the chosen ones to open their eyes
And see that heaven has touched earth,
The kingdom has come
In the form of a man,
A man containing the fullness of the Creator.
And he is weeping,
And he knows the pain of a broken heart,
The ripping apart of unrequited love,
The rawness of rejection.
He knows the taste of tears
And the racking throb of sorrow.

In his frailty I find comfort
And know I don’t walk this road alone.

 Katrina Quinn for WordLive www.wordlive.org.uk © Scripture Union 2012