grief

Today’s gospel (Matt 14:1-12) is about the martyrdom of John the Baptist. Herod had a party with many distinguished guests. His daughter danced beautifully before the guests, and in his delight Herod promised to give her anything she asked including half of his kingdom. Then following her mother’s advice, she asked for the head of John the Baptist whom Herod was holding in prison. And that was the end of John the Baptist.

There are many lessons to be learned from this short incident. But for us, today, I want to focus on what happened next. In verse 12, Matthew reports that: “John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.”

So here’s my question. I wonder what was going on in the minds and hearts of the disciples of John after they buried him.

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During these past few months, my family and I have lost precious loved ones. There was My first cousin, who died less than six months after her own husband died. About a month ago, the wife of my own sister’s son died. Just like that. A close friend of mine lost his wife, and he suffered agony for months after. Then my most beloved boss the Chairman of the PHINMA Group who gave me the big breaks in my career died just last October. But most painful of all was when my beloved mother passed away just last September. It is very painful to see someone lose their loved one. It’s the worst, when it is your own loss.

The incident in Luke 19:41-44 when Jesus sees the city of Jerusalem from a distance and cries over it, gives us a glimpse of how Jesus Himself experienced personal grief.

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grief

GO, AND TELL JESUS

THE GOD WHO KNOWS OUR GRIEF