Welcome and thank you for taking a bible break to test your knowledge of God's word.

This week's question:

While angels brought the word to the writers of the Old Testament (Hebrews 2:2), the New Testament was given to us by inspiration through the Holy Spirit to the Apostles (2 Timothy 3:16-17) as Jesus told His disciples, who would soon become those apostles (Acts 2:all), "But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you." (John 16:13).

That brings us to our question, "What is the shortest verse in the New Testament?". When one ponders that God directed the words written in the great book of books of wonders called the bible, one can more fully understand Jesus' comment concerning His word, "Sanctify them in truth, Thy word is truth." (John 17:17), and as the proverb writer of old writes, "Buy truth and do not sell it, get wisdom and instruction and understanding." (Proverbs 23:23), and again, "My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your keep my commandments; for length of days and years of life, and peace they will add to you. Do not let kindness and truth leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good repute in the sigh of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:1-6).

We know that everything has been revealed by God concerning salvation so that the man of God may be complete (2 Timothy 3:16-17), and He expects us to study His inspired word to show ourselves approved to God (2 Timothy 2:15) as our faith is gained by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17) and our belief in Jesus is instilled by those things which are written (John 20:30-31). And so He tells Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." (Romans 9:15) , and "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy." (Matthew 5:7).

So as we think upon these things about our Lord and how He walked upon this earth so that we may too walk as He walked (1 John 2:1-4), we see the compassion and the mercy that He displayed upon many occasions. But on one occasion, we find the answer to our question as word came to Jesus that a friend, Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, was sick, "Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick." (John 11:3). Jesus told His disciples, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified by it." (John 11:4).

He then tarried there two days more before going to Bethany where He found that Lazarus had been in the tomb four days already (John 11:17) and met Martha who then goes to tell Mary that the Teacher, Jesus, is outside the village (John 11:19-30). Mary quickly arose and went out to see Jesus, being followed by many of the Jews who had supposed she was going to her brother's tomb to weep there (John 11:31).

And so for the answer to our question we turn and read, "When therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her, also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit, and was troubled, and said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said to Him, 'Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. And so the Jews were saying, 'Behold, how He loved him!' But some of them said, 'Could not this man, who opened the eyes of him who was blind, have kept this man also from dying?' (John 11:33-37).

And so there have the answer to our question, as the verse is, "Jesus wept." (John 11:35). Those two words show the compassion that Jesus has for man and the desire to instill in us through the death of not only Lazarus and Jesus' raising him from the dead to prove that He is the Christ (John 11:45), but all the more so as He himself raises from the tomb of death to life everlasting becoming a forerunner for us by becoming a high priest forever and giving us an oath for an anchor of life everlasting (Hebrews 6:17-20) just as Jesus became obedient to the Father upon that cross (Hebrews 5:8-9).

The Jewish leaders feared loosing their place and nation and planned not only to kill Jesus but also Lazarus whom Jesus did raise from the dead (John 12:10 & 17-19)! They received their "reward" that Jesus proclaimed would fall upon that generation (Matthew 23:29-36 & 24:1-34). May we show the same mercy and compassion that Jesus did show to those that were true to Him to our friends and family and people we come in contact with for life everlasting. "And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father who also is in heaven may forgive you your transgressions. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions." (Mark 11:25-26).