As Jesus Wept
Lent 5; Ezekiel 37:1-14, John 11:1-45
As Jesus wept for friends, for death, for grief,
and still called out to one entombed: “Come out!”,
we likewise grieve for wars without relief
and long to hear Christ’s bold restoring shout.
So many dead and homes and land laid bare!
We pray the Spirit might inspire this cry:
“You shattered lands, leave war behind and dare
to rise from that scorched earth on which you lie!
Connected, lifted up, your people sigh
as Spirit wind restores their living breath!”
How Jesus wept and prayed he need not die!
Like us, he feared his suffering and death,
but sharing all with us, he dared the cross,
and from his tomb, new life sprang out of loss.
Barbara Messner March 2020 altered 2026
Barb, poet priest 