Jesus knew He couldn't trust people who believed because of the miraculous things they saw – because He knew the depth of their hearts. He was there as Jesus processed things humanly, being fully God. What that means to us as we read his Gospel account is he knew Jesus well as a person. Calling Himself "the one Jesus loved" meant he proclaimed himself Jesus' favorite. Like the young runners who lacked the depth of perception to understand what happened that fateful day, I can't fully explain it, either. Life-altering, unfair, tragic, and evil events which steal our peace. It's tough to make our faith make sense in times like this. "The LORD is close to the brokenhearted he rescues those whose spirits are crushed." (NLT)Īs I remember 9/11 and friends who were called up to serve our country as a result, I'm left with an unimaginable gap myself as to how anyone who was there and lost a loved one could ever find the strength to embrace forgiveness and peace. Sorrow, which doesn't stop Him from loving people – because He is love. All knowing, everywhere, all of the time, the depth of pain He felt as those planes rerouted and executed their evil plot must have been a level of deep sorrow we cannot comprehend. It leaves us to think about the perfect love of our Almighty God. Forevermore, it affects the way we see others and shapes our opinions. Righteous anger! The innocent loss of life is something that angers God, too! Tragic atrocities like this scar entire nations and generations. Unforgiveness, bitterness, anger, and pain remain. The anger, hurt, and devastation left in the wake of one of the most tragic events in American history linger long. September 11 is etched in many of our hearts as a reason not to trust or love. Love is an obedient choice due to our faith in Jesus and surrender to Him. Trust in God allows us to understand and become active conduits of His love. Trusting other people isn't mentioned as a requirement for love. Jesus urged us to love God and love people. We definitively associate and require trust with love. We, on the other hand, decide to draw a line in the sand with each other. He may not have trusted people …because we are …people …but He fully loved them …and us today. John wrote, "Jesus didn't trust them because he knew all about people." We often confuse love and trust, as if one is needed to accomplish the other. Because Jesus is fully God and man, He knew fully what lay in the depths of each heart, proclaiming belief after signs and wonders. Fully God and fully man, Jesus "knew what was in each person's heart." I'm confident we often don't fully know the content of our hearts. ![]() As "the one whom Jesus loved," he had a special insight into how Jesus processed their reaction to miracles. In the passage above, the Apostle John recalls people beginning to believe in Jesus. How can the same people God specifically created to love become conduits of pure evil? Everchanging and Almighty, God certainly has the power to stop these things from happening. In memory of tragedy, we often ask where God is in all of it. I know they all know poignantly what I meant, as they now hold onto the pandemic's effect on them and their children's lives. Living through something is quite different than hearing and learning about it. It's not that they didn't understand or lacked empathy. I told them about the scenes we watched on live TV …but it was hard for them to understand. Phones went off as people more personally connected to and affected by the tragedy tried to locate friends and relatives in and around the World Trade Center. Living in my sleepy Ohio college town, watching our nation undergo an attack on TV was the last thing anyone expected to wake up to. "Sit down." I welcomed the fresh young faces, born long after the tragic day so many of us will never be able to forget, and told them where I was on 9/11. Low-flying planes made me anxious for many years. 9/11 is personal to everyone who witnessed what happened that dark and tragic day, whether present or through the live media stream, which etched shock into our minds and hearts forever. ![]() Suddenly, one of my Cross-Country runners snapped me out of memory lane. A sunny fall day in September immediately brought nostalgia I didn't want to revisit. The plane was so close I could make out the shape of the passengers inside the cockpit. The local airport and its grass runway lie just over the highway. The engine hummed loudly overhead as a small passenger plane flew too close for my comfort. No one needed to tell him about human nature, for he knew what was in each person's heart." - John 2:23-25 NLT But Jesus didn't trust them because he knew all about people. "Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in him.
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