Jesus, Mourning and Compassion – The Sermon the Week My Husband Died

When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said “Do not weep.” Luke 7:13

I think I probably will start reading Luke next.  Since the night he died, and really, a little the weekend before, I’ve been listening to the Gospel of John “The Passion Translation.”  I don’t really know what that means.  It seems very true to the other translations, but it does read well audibly, and of course, I’m listening to it.

Those first nights I listened to it over.  Every time I read through it, different parts stuck out.  Jesus telling the disciples that they would weep and mourn.  Jesus telling Peter how he would die.  Jesus telling the disciples ahead of time that he would die, so that they would be able to stay strong.  Jesus saying that the man was born blind so that God’s glory could be revealed and not because anyone sinned.  Different parts stand out almost every time, including tonight, when Jesus was praying for his disciples, not only that they would be united to each other, but also that they would be united to Jesus and the Father, even after Jesus had left them.

But I’ve been thinking about how Jesus reacted when John the Baptist died and the Gospel of John doesn’t really cover it, or else I’ve tuned out every time, but I think by now, since I’ve been thinking about it, I think I would have noticed.  After all, John the Baptist was murdered, just like Shah and also rather suddenly because someone did not value life and paid for a dance with John’s life.

Today, I finally listened to the sermon my pastor Kris McDaniel preached the Sunday after Shah died.  I knew it was about mourning and grief, so I took my time to listen to it.

The text was Luke 7:11-17.  Jesus had compassion on the widow when her only son died.  Mind you, he allowed her husband to die, but he was still moved by compassion to restore her son to life.  He didn’t just say, “Do not weep” it will all be OK some day.  He acted.  He gave her the gift of her son’s life, just like he has given me gift after gift, through so many in the last two months. It was an excellent message and I recommend anyone listen to it.  I’ll probably listen to it again this week.

But the part of the sermon that stood out to me most was the context of this miracle in the midst of Jesus mourning for John the Baptist.  I think I understood that right.  My brain isn’t what it usually is.  But regardless, when John was murdered, Jesus went away and had time by himself.  Jesus mourned.

That is what I am trying to do.  I keep saying I wish it was the Civil War time and I had to wear a big black dress to show to everyone and myself that this was a period of mourning.  I’d wear it at least a year.

I want to do this right; not because of a sense of ought, but because I want Shah’s life to be properly valued.  I want to learn all of the lessons and absorb all of the value from his life and this suffering.