Jesus Weeps In Oklahoma City

Each week I try to post another entry to this Blog, but the past two weekends have made that impossible. The weekend before this I was at the Oklahoma Writers Federation conference in Oklahoma City. This weekend I was with my wife as she went through a procedure at a local hospital. She comes home today and so I better get with the program.

While in Oklahoma City some friends took me past the Oklahoma City National Memorial. The purpose of the memorial is to honor those touched by the April 19, 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building. The link fills in details of the history behind this event and those involved in creating the memorial. It is a very moving reminder of this tragedy. 

OK City National Memorial and Reflecting Pond

Many memorials in this country are erected to recall victories, great accomplishments and those involved in them. All of the memorials point beyond the events to the courage, knowledge and wisdom of those who committed their lives to bring the memorialized event to pass. Washington, D.C., of course, is full of such memorials. Yet every community of any size has some. They are an important part of our heritage and our history. 

The OK City memorial includes a statue of the weeping Christ looking upon a wall filled with the names of those who died. In another area 168 empty chairs stand in nine rows to represent those who died on each of the floors of the building.

Jesus Wept

 I was particularly moved by the image of Jesus weeping for those who died. The weeping of Jesus before the tomb of his friend Lazarus is recorded in the Gospel of John. The people in attendance at Lazarus' funeral said to one another, "See how he loved him." And this memorial reminds us all of how much our Lord Jesus loves both those who died and all of us, even to the point of entering into our death by sacrificing himself upon the cross of Calvary. 

I rejoice that I live in a nation where this good news is still honored and remembered. I pray that this Gospel will continue to be shared wherever men and women must lose their lives. I pray that we will embrace the hope that was offered to Lazarus' sisters as Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die."