Saturday, September 13, 2025

And Jesus Wept: A tale of two statues (and how they challenge us)

There's a statue in downtown Oklahoma City that countless people walk by each year.


Aptly titled And Jesus Wept, this statue depicts the grief of Jesus that we read about in Scripture (see Jn 11:35). Placed across the street from the Oklahoma City National Memorial, this statue reminds us that Jesus knows what it means to grieve. He is with us in our pain, and he mourns as we mourn. We remember the 168 people who were killed in the April 1995 bombing and the countless other people whose lives were upended by this act of violence. When we look at this statue, we remember that in our grief and pain, Christ is present and full of love and compassion; he suffers with us. 

Many people visit this statue, and even people who haven't walked by have probably seen photos of it or heard about it at some point. However, many people may not realize that there is another notable statue of Jesus nearby. Just across the parking lot from And Jesus Wept, another statue of Jesus stands in a courtyard next to St. Joseph's Old Cathedral and the parish office.


Jesus's arms are open wide as he welcomes close all who walk by. I am struck by the love, compassion, and hospitality that it depicts. This statue reminds me that Jesus offers himself to us out of love and invites us to draw near and receive his loving mercy. 

When you walk close to this statue (if you can tear your eyes away from the welcoming embrace of Christ), you can see some words etched into the base. 




Forgive us as we forgive.

Just across the street from the memorial that stands where people were tragically killed in a horrific act of violence, this statue of Jesus pulls us close and then hits us with a message of forgiveness. Close to the place where people come to remember and grieve, we see this petition. 

Forgive us as we forgive.

We all want to be forgiven, don't we? We don't want others to hold our failings against us. We don't want God to turn us away when we've sinned. We want to be loved and comforted and restored and forgiven. But do we want to forgive? 

Do we want to forgive those who have attacked our communities and even killed others? 

Do we want to forgive individuals who continue to rip apart our country in violence? 

We may not want to forgive. 

However, Jesus still desires that we choose to forgive others. 

When the Apostles asked Jesus how to pray, he responded with a prayer that includes the call to forgive: "forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." (Matt 6:12) When the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery to Jesus and called for the death penalty, Jesus challenged them with his love and radical forgiveness: “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (Jn 8:7)

The scribes and Pharisees walked away, and Jesus offered a new path, a new life to this woman: "Go, [and] from now on do not sin any more.” (Jn 8:11)

Jesus forgave her and invited her to live anew, free from sin. 

Forgive us as we forgive.

We need to grieve and mourn and recognize our feelings of horror when tragedy affects our lives and communities. We need to stand at the And Jesus Wept statue and remember that Christ is with us in our sorrow and anger and confusion. 

When we leave this statue, we could return to our lives and perhaps let our grief burn into deeper anger at this tragedy and at the man who did this, a man who was executed 

We could turn from that statue and walk away, back into our lives, and perhaps let our grief burn into deeper anger. 

Alternatively, we could walk across the parking lot to the small courtyard that is tucked away from the busy street.

We could step up to that statue of Jesus and receive his invitation to a new journey, a restored life of love and hope. 

Forgive us as we forgive.

Jesus never said that following him would be easy (in fact, he said quite the opposite). He never said that love and forgiveness and compassion would be simple to pursue and implement. However, he still invites us to choose love and forgiveness:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you" (Matt 5:43-44). 

 

No matter what tragedy we are experiencing, no matter what horror we are grappling with, no matter what we are grieving, we need to keep the words of Jesus in our hearts. His words challenge us to choose a better path than anger and bitterness and vengeance disguised as justice. He will provide us the grace and strength and help that we need to walk the path of love, mercy, compassion, and redemption. We need to ask him for help and come to him, over and over in prayer. 

Forgive us as we forgive.

By: AnneMarie

2 comments:

  1. Such powerful and beautiful statues of Jesus! Very moving to read this, especially during this time in our nation.

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    1. Thanks for your thoughtful comment, Elisabeth :) This post has been bouncing around in my mind and heart for a few months now, but with all of the recent tragedies hitting our country, I thought it was finally time to pull all my thoughts together.

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