(Jesus is the friend who cares.)
Jesus Wept.
Here is a good friend. A Baptist, a Catholic, and a Methodist were standing at the
graveside of an old friend.
"I feel so sinful," said the Baptist. "I
always promised to pay him back those fifty dollars, but I never got around to
it."
"I know just how you feel," said the Catholic.
"He lent me a hundred last year, and I never got to giving it back."
The Methodist, however, had a suggestion: "Why don't
you just throw the money onto the coffin before they cover it up," he
said. "I'm sure that will clear your consciences."
The Baptist and the Catholic duly threw
a-hundred-and-fifty dollars onto the coffin.
Upon seeing this, the Methodist took out a check-book and
wrote out a check for three-hundred dollars. "I owed him
a-hundred-and-fifty," he said, throwing in the three-hundred dollars
check. Then he took one-hundred-and-fifty dollars in change!
Scripture Text:
John 11:33 (KJS) When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews
also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was
troubled, 34 And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him,
Lord, come and see. 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then said the Jews, Behold how he
loved him! 37 And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the
eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? 38
Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a
cave, and a stone lay upon it. 39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone.
Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time
he stinketh: for he hath been [dead] four days. 40 Jesus saith unto her,
Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the
glory of God? 41 Then they took away the stone [from the place] where the
dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up [his] eyes, and said, Father, I thank
thee that thou hast heard me. 42 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but
because of the people which stand by I said [it], that they may believe that
thou hast sent me. 43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud
voice, Lazarus, come forth. 44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand
and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin.
Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. 45 Then many of the Jews
which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on
him.
Here is the
greatest friend.
1.
A Compassionate friend: He was troubled because He saw His friends weeping and the
other Jews also weeping. He does
care. Compassionate friends feel
it.
2.
A Caring/Loving friend: He cared because He wanted to know where they had laid His
friend. The others recognized
that He loved Lazarus. He came,
but some thought that He came too late. Caring
friends show it.
3.
A Weeping friend: He
wept over the death of His friend and the grief of the family and friends.
Weeping friends weep with you when you weep.
4.
A Sensitive friend: He
was sensitive to what others felt and thought.
Oceanside, Calif:
Mr. Alter's fifth-grade class at Lake Elementary School made headlines
when the boys in the class decided by themselves to shave their heads.
They did so, without embarrassment, because one of their own, Ian
O'Gorman, developed cancer and had undergone chemotherapy.
His hair began to fall out. To
make their friend feel at home, to feel one with the crowd, all his classmates
agreed to shave their heads, with their parent's permission, so that upon his
return, Ian would not stand out from the class.
No one would know who the "cancer kid" was.
The teacher, Mr. Alter, was so moved by the spirit of his class that he
too shaved his head. -- Jim
Zabloski, 25 Most Common Problems In Business (Broadman-Holman, 1996), p. 232.
5.
A Believing friend: He
had faith in His Heavenly Father. He
knew that
God would raise His friend. He
looked to God not to the people.
6.
A Praying friend: He
prayed and He thanked God for what He was going to do. A great friend
intercedes on the behalf of those He loves.
7.
A Miraculous friend: He
was able to raise the dead raised and heal the sick because He believed and
because He is God. Earthly
friends can only do what they can do. God
can go beyond what anyone on earth can do.
He is the Creator.
8. He
wants to be your friend. Would
you want to have a friend like Jesus? Of
course, who wouldn’t want to be loved, supported, and encouraged as Jesus
did His friends? As a young man,
D.L. Moody was called upon suddenly to preach a funeral sermon. He hunted all throughout the four Gospels trying to find one
of Christ's funeral sermons, but searched in vain. He found that Christ broke up every funeral he ever attended.
Death could not exist where he was.
When the dead heard his voice they sprang to life.
Jesus said, "I am the resurrection, and the life."
Who wouldn’t want a friend who
could raise them from the dead? Jesus
can be your friend. Rev. 3:20:
Says that He stands at the door and knocks.
He wants you let Him in. He
is the faithful friend. He stands
and waits. Will you let Him in?
An English publication offered a prize for the best
definition of a friend. Among the
thousands of entries received were the following: "One who multiplies
joys, divides grief"; "One who understands our silence";
"A volume of sympathy bound in cloth"; and "A watch which beats
true for all time and never runs down."
But the entry which won the prize said, "A friend--the one who
comes in when the whole world has gone out."
Everyone else had walked out on Lazarus, but then Jesus walked in and
made all the difference in Lazarus’ life.
He will walk right into your life today and make all the difference.
Will you open the door? Take
the first step and He will take all the rest.