He carried His cross despising the shame
To the place of the skull, Golgotha by name
And there with two thieves, His friends’ hopes all lost,
Was man’s greatest error now hung on a cross

He held back His power, His glory was veiled
He silenced His tongue as accusations were railed
He submitted His body to torture and pain
And saw through it all a glorious gain

Oh what sight could hold Him, this King of all Kings
What glory awaited that only shame brings?

The One who spoke galaxies, wisdom and life
Laid aside all His power without any strife
And WHY would He do it? The question looms large
Accept accusations, absorb every charge

The smoke finally clears as the veil rips away
And eyes filled with tears see truth bright as day
Humbled and willing I bow to my knee
Jesus! Oh Jesus! You did it for me…..

- – - written by Cindy Blackamore

And when He (Jesus) drew near and saw the city, He wept over it. – Luke 19:41

For all but three years of my parish ministry I had a parochial school. That means I had a quarter-century of opening-day emotions. On that day I often tried to get down to the kindergarten to help with the tears, the sobs, the feeling of loneliness and lostness … and that was from the moms.

Sometimes I was even asked to help with the children who were upset. Most of the time our teachers took care of things. They would take a child to the side, give a hug, and talk quietly and patiently with the distraught little one. It was amazing to see the miraculous transformation those teachers could bring about.

Apparently a kindergarten in Virginia Beach, Virginia, has a different technique. There a kindergartner, Bronson Clark, was upset about having to leave mom. He was so upset he did some serious crying. For that grave infraction of the rules the little one was given an out-of-school suspension. You see this particular kindergarten has a zero-tolerance policy in regard to children disturbing a class — and a lonely child’s tears are a disturbance.

It is my hope that you and all those you know do not have a similar policy in regard to Jesus and the tears He shed.

If you look at the Savior’s life, you will find a number of times He cried. Jesus cried at the tomb of His dead friend, Lazarus; He cried for the city of Jerusalem, which He knew, in a few short years, would be destroyed; He cried out from the cross as He allowed Himself to be sacrificed for our forgiveness and salvation.

Did you ever think there is a pattern there? Look carefully and you will see Jesus always cried and cried out for others … not for Himself. Yes, in the Garden of Gethsemane He prayed, if it were possible, that the cup of suffering might be removed from Him, but even there Jesus put us first.

The depth of Jesus’ concern for the world’s sinners is something beyond my understanding. If I had been in the Savior’s place and looking at Jerusalem in the distance, I would not have been brought to tears by her upcoming destruction. On the contrary, I probably would have murmured something like: “Reject me, will you? Jerusalem, you’re looking at some nasty times ahead. You can count on them. After all you have rejected me, haven’t you?”

This is just one of the many reasons why Jesus is the Savior and I am the person being saved; it’s the reason I’m the sinner being rescued and He’s God’s Son who is doing the rescuing.

And that’s why, as a forgiven and redeemed sinner, I’m going to try to live in a way that will make the Savior smile and not cry.

The Prayer : Lord, I give thanks that Jesus cared so much for sinners. Now, as a redeemed member of the family of faith, may I live in a way that shows my appreciation. In His Name. Amen.

- – - written by Pastor Ken Klaus, Lutheran Hour Ministries

Those who wish themselves to be sick cannot be healed even by God.

This is a strange question, “do you want to be healed?” Jesus asked this question before healing people. He particularly asked this question to the paralyzed man lying by the side of the pool for thirty eight years. I wondered why Jesus asked this strange question to people who come to him for healing. I did not know the answer. Then, I looked at myself and found the answer within me.

There are many habits in me which need healing. I pray to Jesus for healing with my lips, but deep within my heart I do not want to part with those strongholds. The reason is that the habits have taken roots in me as a form of defense mechanism. I can easily blame the system, for my laziness rather than confronting my laziness. If I confront my laziness, I have to wake up early, work harder and relax less. I don’t want to do that, because I will lose my present complacency.

So, I play a hypocritical double game. I pray, “Jesus, heal me from laziness,” without meaning what I speak. Jesus sees my heart. He is the truth. He confronts me, “Jacob, do you really want to be healed?”

Habits are the end results of mind games. We are playing games. Under cover, we blame our parents, spouses, siblings, neighbors and friends for our failures. We are the reason for our failure. We are not facing the ugly and stinking aspect of our lives.

If we really and truthfully look into our minds, we will see one thing; we all play hypocritical games with our minds. Jesus faces us upfront and asks directly to our soul, “Really, do you want to be healed?”

In India, I saw a beggar. He lived in a nearby village. He had big bandages tied around his legs. He wore dirty clothes. He will give a sick look, and then ask for money. One day my brother saw him having a bath in a nearby river. After the bath he washed his clothes. Then he did a strange thing, he sprayed dirt and dust on his clothes and body. He tied huge bandages around his legs. He then took his begging bowl and limped towards the village square to beg.

This beggar is the typical example of a man who has mastered the mind game of sick-role. He had no physical sickness, but he is sick in his soul. He doesn’t want to be healed. Sick-role is his way of earning livelihood with out working.

We are all like that beggar and that is why Jesus is struggling to heal us. We are sitting in the village square with our begging bowl. We play sick-role. We play victim-role. We play poor-me role. We play holy-me role. We play unending roles.

The Lord is fed up with our sick games. Still, Jesus doesn’t give up on us. He is asking “Do you want to be healed?”

- – - written by Dr. Jacob C Tony