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Jesus Wept, and Then Jesus Rejoiced!

It was Sunday morning, and Jesus eagerly made His way to the church assembly to worship with the saints.  He was so excited about praising God and enjoying time with His brethren.  His heart overflowed with joy as He thought about it.  For you see, Jesus assembles with the saints (Matt. 18:20), worships with the saints (Matt. 26:29; Heb. 2:12) and calls the saints His “brethren” (Heb. 2:12; Rom. 8:17).

As He did every Lord’s Day morning, Jesus enthusiastically participated in the worship.  He fervently sang, “There Is a God, He Is Alive,” “This World Is Not My Home,” “I Need Thee Every Hour.”  But, as He was exalting the Lord, He started to look around.  He thought more saints would be there that day.  Wondering where some of them were, He took out His mobile GPS tracker and checked on some of the saints.  Three of them were in another state that morning.  Two of them were in the hospital, and He was concerned about them.  But, then He grew more troubled.  Some were at the beach, some out shopping, some out fishing, some at sporting events.  He noticed that many were just at home—not because they were ill but just doing other things that day.

Jesus quickly put His mobile GPS tracker away.  He thought about those who were deliberately choosing to absent themselves from worship.  He thought about those who had made it such a habit that they did not even think twice about not attending worship on Sunday mornings.  He thought about how their physical absence represented a deeper heart condition.  As He sat there in the worship assembly, where He had longed to be for the last six days, and thought about His brethren who were forsaking the assembly…Jesus wept!

But then something happened.  He caught a glimpse of the widow who had struggled to get there this morning but would not miss it for anything.  He looked over at the single mother who was exhausted from wrestling with her young children to get there on time.  He looked at the young people sitting together at the front of the auditorium.  He saw the young married couple sitting there holding hands.  And while His heart was broken for those who were NOT there, His attention was now focused on those who WERE there!  Those who had made the choice to be there that morning, and those who had made it such a habit that they did not even think twice about where they would be that morning.  As He sat there in the worship assembly that morning, where He had longed to be for the last six days, and thought about His brethren praising God together with one heart…Jesus rejoiced!

Every Sunday morning, Jesus weeps for some of His brethren and He rejoices over others.  Which does He do when He thinks about you while He is worshiping?