The makeshift memorial at Michael Jackson's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

This week has been a whirlwind of celebrity deaths. Death always reminds us of our own mortality
and causes us to enter a mood of deep reflection on the mysteries of life, but when a celebrity dies there is a communal feeling of loss and the questions and reflections seem to be amplified.

The fact that someone can be here one moment and completely gone the next just doesn’t seem right. The idea that Michael Jackson won’t sing or dance again, that Ed McMahon won’t laugh again and that Farrah Fawcett won’t act again is incredibly hard for us to fathom. It seemed as though these stars would always be around.

I’ve read several blogs and comments from Christians this week, particularly about the death of Michael Jackson. The Church doesn’t seem to know how to respond to a legend who died with blemishes on his record. Some have been quite harsh, others have paid tribute to his talent even if they couldn’t affirm his actions and a few have reminded us that compared to Jesus, Michael Jackson is nobody.

But how does Jesus respond in the face of death? What is the true Christ-like response?

The shortest verse in the Bible is just two words. “Jesus Wept.” When someone asks for my “life verse,” this is usually the one I quote. Anyone who spent a few weeks in a Sunday School class as a child knows this verse, but I’m not sure many could recall why Jesus is weeping in the story.

Jesus is weeping because His friend Lazarus has died. He is doing what comes natural when human beings come face to face with death. He is mourning and His emotions are seen through His tears.

Jesus knows the score and Jesus knows the future. He knows that in a few moments He will demand the stone be removed, He will call Lazarus out of the tomb and what was once dead will live again. But first— He weeps.

He didn’t turn Lazarus’ death into a protest about a political issue, as we’ve seen some churches do. He didn’t feel under a compulsion to remind people that compared to God’s glory, Lazarus is no one to cry about and He didn’t try to comfort people with platitudes such as “he’s in a better place” or “everything happens for a reason.” He wept.

Why? Because Jesus—more than anyone else—knows how unnatural death is. Jesus weeps because death is not the ending human life was intended to have. We are so far removed from the original design that we may view it as the natural end of our lives, but that’s not the reality.

The reality is we were created eternal and our collective rebellion against the Creator of the Universe has brought death upon all creation. If a person tries to live without water, they will be dead within a few days. If a person tries to live their lives without God, (which we all do,) they will be dead within about 100 years. Death is not natural, it is a consequence and this is why Jesus weeps in the face of death.

How should we respond to the death of a guy like Michael Jackson? We should mourn. Whether you were his biggest fan or his greatest critic, mourn because he came to the same unnatural, unholy and undignified end we all do.

photo credit: intellichick