A wedding and a funeral in one day. A celebration of two lives joining together, and a mourning of the loss of one life. A beautiful picture of the marriage of the Bride of Christ and her Beloved Jesus, and a reality check of our mortality and our fragile state. A day for laughter and singing and dancing, and a day for weeping and sorrowful hours of silence.
That day, May 10, I saw Jesus face-to-face. I saw him in light of joy and of sadness. That day I understood the scripture in Romans 12 that says we should “rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” I caught a glimpse of what King Solomon was speaking of when he said “for everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”
Jesus was there to celebrate weddings and to extend the party by turning water into wine (John 2). He didn’t want anyone to be lacking, so he graciously provided the best wine anyone had ever tasted for all the attendees. Jesus was there when Mary and Martha were mourning the loss of Lazarus in John 11. This scripture is so beautiful to me:
“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.” 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. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept.” – John 11: 32-35
Jesus saw the sorrow and joined in on the mourning. He felt deeply the distress and sadness and frustration of Mary. In that moment, rather than rebuking Mary for doubting his timeliness and perfection, Jesus just cries with her. I can imagine his eyes welling up with tears looking into Mary’s soaking wet face and falling to his knees to meet her on the ground right where she collapsed at his feet.
What an incredible depiction these stories provide us of our Teacher’s ability to be in all seasons at all times. To clap and dance and BYOB (except he brought it to share with everyone rather than just for himself, so that’s even cooler!) at the wedding of the year, but also to express his humanness in tears of loss and pain of the innermost parts of the heart. I saw Jesus at the wedding in my team’s ability to laugh and dance and sing with the bride and groom (we sang “I’ll Fly Away” as we danced around presenting our present to the bride and groom… they had no idea what we were singing and it was hilarious). I also saw Jesus in the tears we shed in mourning for the loss of sweet Mana Palmera’s father’s death.
I want to have the ability to be in any season at anytime, just as Jesus was and is. I want to be better at dancing for joy with those who are celebrating life, and I want to be better at crying from sorrow with those who are mourning the loss of life. May we all have teachable hearts to learn these things from our Master and Savior. What an utterly impeccable place would the world be if we all would truly care and love one another in this way?
