Verse Thirty-Five

Before the stone, before the cry

That split the dark and called life nigh,

He lingered where the mourners stood,

In dust and ache and misunderstood hope.

He knew the breath would soon return,

Knew death would loosen, grave would burn

With sudden light and startled praise,

Yet still He entered grief’s delay.

For love does not outrun our pain

Or leap too fast to joy again;

It stays, it feels, it shares the cost

Of every Lazarus we’ve lost.

So tears fell first, a holy sign

That God does not stand outside time,

That heaven bends where hearts are kept -

The shortest verse, the deepest depth:

Before He conquered, healed, or swept,

He stood with us.

And Jesus wept.

GBS jr

2013