“Jesus wept.” The shortest verse recorded in the bible – John 11:35. Two small words that pack a punch of meaning…
The story behind those two powerful words…..
Jesus was close friends with three siblings – Mary, Martha and Lazarus. He spent a lot of time with them in their home, sharing meals with them, sharing meaningful conversations with them, enjoying their company. They were buds.
One day Jesus gets word that his friend Lazarus is sick. He cares deeply for him, yet stays where He is for two more days. He knew what the outcome would be and that its purpose was to show God’s greatness.
On His way to Bethany, where the Lazarus and his sisters lived, He says to his disciples who were with him, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” There was a definite method to this madness.
When he got there, what He had predicted was true. Lazarus had died. And he had been buried now for four days. He saw the grieving sisters and those around them mourning. It says that “he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.” And then the two simple, yet powerful, words – “Jesus wept.”
Why was Jesus so “troubled”? Why did He cry? It couldn’t have been because Lazarus was dead because He knew that in minutes He would be raising him from the dead. I can’t pretend to know all that caused Jesus’ grief at that point, but I do have some thoughts….
Jesus was sympathetic – Jesus was like one of us when He came to earth. He shared and experienced our emotions. Being God, He also understood that “we are dust” and knew the frailness of our faith and the weight of our grief. He hurt for His friends.
Jesus hated death – His whole point in coming to earth was to conquer sin and death. He saw again the effects of sin and death on mankind in a very raw, emotional, visible, tangible way when Lazarus died.
Jesus was, Himself, soon going to die – Lazarus’ death was almost like a foreshadowing of His own death. Before He died, He also experienced these deep emotions – “…and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.’ ” At the time of Lazarus’ death He felt the lostness and pain of loss of those around Him – an analogy of the sorry state of a lost world. At the time of His own death, He felt the agony of that lostness as well as the hideous blackness of all of mankind’s sin. At Lazarus’ death, He knew all that was soon to come on the cross.
I don’t know if we can know for sure all of the reasons why Jesus wept. But I do know that after the weeping came amazing joy. Can you imagine the craziness when Jesus called for Lazarus to come out of the grave and this mummy-type figure emerges? The shock. The awe. The sheer excitement of a loved one being brought back to life! I’m sure the tears again flooded, but this time tears of complete thankfulness and gratitude to God for this unbelievable miracle. And like Jesus had said, it happened “so that you may believe.” It says that because of that miracle, many believed and “put their faith in him.”
Life out of death. A picture of what Jesus was about to do for us. Conquering death. Bringing life.
Jesus wept. An act that showed His complete human nature. Followed by an act, a miracle, that showed His complete God nature. The humility and glory of God all wrapped in one. Jesus – friend and savior…..
