Furious at Funerals--How Jesus Feels

Graveside Scripture with Comments Delivered March 26, 2022 to the Treasured Family and Dearest Friends of Ernest Lynn Elkins (April 17, 1945-March 16, 2022), Chandler Cemetery, Calhoun, Georgia, USA

This Graveside mini-message reveals the unexpected lengths to which the Savior's affectionate loyalty stretches for His Friends!

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He is here. Jesus is here just like He was here in the Garden of Sorrow with another family whose two adoring women cherished His own dear friend. Jesus was here with them in these same few Springtime days before Easter. With them, with you, Jesus is here.

What is He feeling?

"The LORD cares deeply when his loved ones die." (Psalm 116:15, New Living Translation) "The death of the LORD's faithful is a costly loss in His eyes." (Psalm 116:15, Common English Bible) "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints." (King James Version)

Today, Jesus feels the loss of a close friend. Lynn has talked to Jesus a lot through the years and this is the tenth day they haven't talked together.

What else is He feeling?

"In all their suffering he also suffered, and he personally rescued them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them through all the years." (Isaiah 63:9, NLT)

"When Jesus looked at Mary and saw her weeping at His feet, and all her friends who were with her grieving, He shuddered with emotion and was deeply moved with tenderness and compassion...Then tears streamed down Jesus' face." (John 11:33,35, The Passion Translation)

Jesus feels everthing you're feeling. Your hurting deeply hurts Jesus! He loves you. He feels mercy for you. He is going to carry you through all the time ahead until it's over!

Does He feel anything else?

"When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. 'Where have you put him?' he asked them. They told him, 'Lord, come and see.' Then Jesus wept." (John 11:33-35, New Living Translation)

At whom was Jesus angry?

He was angry at Satan for attacking His friend Lazarus with a sudden fatal illness! Jesus was angry at the paid wailers faking it up about being so heartbroken when Jesus knew that some of them were Jewish leaders who would soon plot to RE-KILL Lazarus because his resurrected life would draw people away from them! [John12:10-11]

At whom is Jesus angry today as He stands in our midst?

He's angry at Satan for manipulating microbiology to produce this Killer COVID!!

He's angry at Satan for breaking the hearts of Paula and Stefani and other family members! Jesus is angry that the man who thougt Paula was the most beautiul woman he'd ever laid eyes on cannot lay them upon her again until they are new immortal eyes! He's angry that her Dad cannot gloat with father-pride over Stefani's scholastic accomplishments and archeological discoveries until he awakeens Lynn and together the three of them review the dusty paths of Israel he walked as our Savior!

He's angry at Vladimir Putin for destroying the homes of millions of Ukrainians and strafing them with fighter planes while they try to escape as wayfarers on the rubbled roads, ports, and trains of Europe!

He's angry at Satan for robbing the BoomerClass of one of their fine teachers! He's angry at Satan for stealing a seasoned leader with good judgment from the Calhoun Adventist Churh Family when we're bound to need his wisdom for future school expansion and big Church decisions.

He's angry that the enemy of praise to God has stolen a second tenor from the new Men's Chorus which was Lynn's brainchild.

But, the righteous indignation of Christ always morphs into joy-making!

"Jesus was still angry as He arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. 'Roll the stone aside,' Jesus told them... So they rolled the stone aside...Then Jesus shouted, 'Lasarus, come out!' "And the dead man came out!"

On a day sooner than most expect, that scene will be repeated on a global scale!

"As the living cloud comes still nearer, every eye beholds the Prince of Life...Amid the reeling of the earth, the flash of lightning, and the roar of thunder, the voice of t he Son of God calls forth the sleeping saints. He looks upon the graves of the righteous, t hen raising His hands to heaven, He cries: 'Awake, awake, awake, ye that sleep in the dust, and arise!' Throughout the length and breadth of the earth the [righteous] dead shall hear that voice, and they that hear shall live...And the living righteous and the risen saints unite their voices in a long, glad shout of victory!" (Deliverance Before Dawn, 1997:50.1)

He'll be back here! Jesus is coming back here, again, for sure!!