5/25/22
The events this week regarding the tragedy of the school shooting in Uvalde is beyond words. Hearts are broken. Dreams destroyed. We are all at a loss and mourn with the community. So what do we say or how do we respond to events such as these regarding violence and evil of any kind in our world? Sometimes we must recognize our words are not enough and only our presence can speak for us.
Too many times I’ve heard people want to respond with “It’s going to be alright…etc.” When it will never be alright having to deal with such a tragedy. So, how would Jesus respond? Well, in John 11 there is an account where Jesus lost a dear friend to death and the friend’s two sisters came and inquired of Jesus that if He had been there, it wouldn’t have happened. It was the age-old question of “If God, why evil.” Now in this short article I wouldn’t be able to give any sort of address to that part of the question for the sake of the size of this article, but I will share that Jesus responded to the two sisters differently. Martha needed an intellectual response and Jesus gave the famous verse which reads, “I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me they will live even though they die. Do you believe this?” But Mary, the second sister, wasn’t at the same place in her grief that Martha was, and Jesus must have perceived this within Mary. Instead of giving her an intellectual answer Jesus became Mary’s emotional companion and cried with her.
Later the Scripture reads that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead which Christ will do for all believers in the end. This give us hope for the future, but if Jesus is God then this passage reveals God will meet us where we are and give us the answers we need when we need them, either intellectual or simply be our emotional companion.
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