The Shortest Verse
EMILY SCHOENFELDER
I have fond memories of going to Sunday School as a kid. My family was active in the United Methodist church we attended, and my classes there were always filled with friends and caring teachers. I recall the upper elementary class being particularly fun. About once a month, the teachers would draw a huge diamond on the whiteboard, and we would play Bible Baseball. It was my favorite! We divided into two teams to answer Bible trivia in order to score singles, doubles, and home runs.
I was pretty good, too… and I liked to win. I knew most of the classic Bible stories – at least the sanitized versions from children’s Bibles. Plus, I learned quickly that the questions repeated with some frequency, and I used this to my advantage. I logged the correct answers in my mind and could recall them with a clarity that was rarely inspired by our weekly memory verses or recitations of books in the Bible. One question I still remember was, “What is the shortest verse in the Bible?” Answer: “Jesus wept.” That was good for a double, but citing chapter and verse (John 11:35) got me a home run.
Eventually, I realized that this bit of trivia could be used as a short and easy answer to other questions as well (most often posed by my Grandma).
Do you have any Bible verses memorized? Jesus wept. John 11:35.
What’s your favorite Bible verse? Jesus wept. John 11:35
What was your Bible study on this morning? John 11:35
It was like a reflex developed by laziness. Or apathy. Or both. Though much of my Bible Baseball knowledge was eventually given meaning and relevance, I continued to value John 11:35 for nothing more than its convenience and brevity.
And then, one day, I read it. I really read it. I read it within the context of the sad and messy and miraculous story that surrounds it. I don’t remember why. Maybe it had become so internalized that it was the first verse I turned to when I was in desperate need of guidance or connection. Or maybe it was just a class assignment. I don’t know. But for the first time, this shortest verse showed me the incredible humanity of Jesus – His grief; His compassion; His willingness to meet us in our sorrow and our pain; and His friendship. The Jesus who wept was able to shed the God-With-Skin-On persona and became a person who I could understand, and who could understand me.
I am grateful for the Bible Baseball days that encouraged me to use my Bible, though I’m still learning to do this well. I admit that sometimes I still use the Bible to win. And sometimes I use it for lazy, apathetic answers. But mostly, I use it to find the Jesus who wept, the Jesus who understands.
Emily works in youth development and can often be found sitting on the floor of her office, building marshmallow catapults out of popsicle sticks. She enjoys yoga, hiking, giving high-fives to children, and blowing bubbles with her gum.