Glad

“and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there”  John 11:15

Glad – The second Beatitude in practice!  Jesus lived by the words he taught.  When he gave us the Beatitudes, he provided God’s insight into life as it is.  He told us about lucky lives in the midst of crisis.  We probably have about the same appreciation for his wisdom as his disciples did.  They simply did not get it.  So, when Lazarus died, Jesus exemplified what it means to be blessed in mourning. 

“I am glad” is really the word chairo – I rejoice.  Jesus says that he rejoices because of the death of Lazarus.  If that isn’t a sacred paradox, nothing is!  Rejoice is a strong word.  It is not just a happy, inward feeling.  It is exuberance.  It is wholehearted jubilation.  It is the word for a wedding, a feast and a birth.  It is the absolute opposite of a funeral.  But Jesus says, “I am full of joy about this event”.  Why?  Because the result will be God’s glory and the disciples’ faith.  Blessed are those mourning for they shall be comforted.

Are you a second Beatitude believer?  When life as it is brings you face to face with grief, are you standing next to Jesus expectantly awaiting the arrival of God’s glory?  It’s not likely that your lost one will rise from the grave today.  But God will arrive nevertheless.  When life hits you so hard you can’t imagine how you can take another breath, do you remember, “I rejoice”?

Everyone around Jesus saw the human horizon of despair.  They were blind to reality.  Scott Peck is right.  “Life is difficult.”  But life’s difficulty is not the end of the story.  Life at it is is subject to the God who is.  Jesus put the Beatitudes into practice.  Do you?