Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”  “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. John 1:45-46

I was reading the 11th chapter of John, a chapter I have read many many times over the years, and yet, I saw something this time I had never seen before. Perhaps it was because of different bible translations that I had never seen it. But the translation I was reading (RSV Second Catholic addition) said the following;

Then Mary, when she came where Jesus was and saw him, fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled: and he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. John 11:32-35.

And I was struck by the fact that Jesus wept after they told him to “come and see”. Now I am not here to talk about whether that is the correct translation, just that it was the translation in my bible. I was struck by how it was those exact words Jesus had uttered to the disciples after John the Baptist, pointed to Jesus;

and he looked at Jesus as he walked and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, “What do you seek?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means teacher) “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and See.” John 1:36-39

So I came back to why Jesus had cried after they spoke to him about seeing where Lazarus was laid. Prior to that he had been troubled, some translations say perturbed. But Jesus weeps when they tell him to see Lazarus.

In the first scenario, the disciples are invited to Come and See, to what I would say is knowledge of a God’s eye view of things. In the second scenario Jesus is invited to a devil’s eye view of things. One is all encompassing moving towards the good, one is destructive.

In my prayer of late, I got the inspiration to pray for 360 degree vision. I wasn’t praying for this so I could grow eyeballs in the back of my head. I was praying for a God’s eye view. The news is so permeated with destruction, it seems almost impossible to not get sucked into a devil’s eye view. By that I mean where we see so much evil we can see nothing else. It evokes rage and despair.

In the story of Lazarus, we see Jesus wait before he goes to Lazarus. We see Jesus let death occur. Jesus, who knows the Father, is doing the will of the Father, but a God’s eye view would make us to know that this will bring Glory, so though sorrowful emotions pass through us, we should never lose hope. We know the outcome of the story.

I think perhaps Jesus wept over how we only see the devil’s eye view of things.

After reading this passage I climbed into bed and asked the Lord to speak to me. I fell asleep and had the most vivid dream.

In the dream I was coming across person after person who was steeped in sin. I should say that the disposition of my heart for all of them was sorrow, not hatred. There was a teenager dabbling in witchcraft, a Priest who was hiding his sins, and a psychologist who was trying to separate minor children from their parents.

When I first came across the witch, I had a bit of fear. She was speaking spells. I started to speak, but because of my own fear, I choked, or I should say, invisible demons choked me. They had power over me because of my fear. But, I managed to whisper out, “In the Holy Name of Jesus, I command you to stop.” With that, the chokehold on me stopped, and she stood frozen.

When I came across the Priest, and then the psychologist, I no longer had any fear. The Priest was demonized because of his own sin. I spoke confidently, “In the Holy Name of Jesus, I command you to stop.” He collapsed on the floor and started weeping.

The psychologist was spewing what people call “wokeism” at me. I said, “in the Holy Name of Jesus, I command you to stop.” She froze. The I breathed on her and said, “I speak the Name of Jesus over you.” She began weeping, and so did I.

I wept because I know I am not worthy to be the conduit of grace like that, yet God, in my dream, allowed it anyway. She wept because she was liberated.

I woke up from the dream and I realized even more the power of the Holy Name. I also realized that the Holy Name speaks blessing over people and not curse;

“Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this on account of the people standing by, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with bandages and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” John 11:41-44

Jesus raises us up among the living and unbinds us and sets us free. He has the power to do that. We get our eyes unbound so we see glory, and our hands and feet unchained so we live joy.

I am not suggesting that everyone run around like a deliverance minister (though I don’t doubt that God could have that possibility), and I want to be clear, we lay people aren’t exorcists, but I do want to say that speaking blessing instead of curse, can, in fact, bring blessing. There is power in the Holy Name.

I speak the Name of Jesus over you.