"Jesus Wept" (Updated)

When I hear people talk about this passage I hear things like “look Jesus was showing that He was just like us and is sad to lose a friend. See even Jesus was human, he cried, He experiences human emotions and can relate to us.” but is that really what these 2 words contain? While you could draw simple conclusions like this I believe there is much more going on here that is never talked about. In John 11 there is a story of a man that was a good friend of Jesus and died. But before Lazarus died his sisters sent a messenger to Jesus telling him to come because Lazarus was sick. Interestingly enough Jesus does not come right away to help His friend but waits a couple of days resulting in Lazarus’ death. Jesus arrives on the scene after Lazarus had been in the grave for a couple of days and the reaction of the people is what brings about the shortest verse in the bible that everyone likes to quote. But what does this simply mean that Jesus wept? Was it tears of sorrow for a lost friend or tears of indignation toward people and the condition that sin has brought about in their lives?

From the very outset Jesus says that this will not end in death. So what is the problem with the people and their view of Jesus? Some key things to note about what Jesus has already said about Himself. John 10:10; 28 “a thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so they may have life and have it abundantly. And I will give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one can snatch them out of my hand.” John 8:12 “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.” There are also many other passages that affirm Jesus’ dominion over life and death. While these passages speak of a spiritual reality the same implication can be brought into the physical. If someone is capable of sealing someone’s spiritual destiny how much more can he do so over the physical? John 1:1-3 the Word/Jesus was with God in the beginning. All things came into being through Him/Jesus. Apart from Him/Jesus nothing came into being that has come into being. Jesus is the creator and sustainer of all physical and spiritual realities. Even after all that Jesus had said about Himself the closest people to Him could not fully understand it. This does not make them bad people, but shows that sin plays a very manipulative role in our understanding of God.

The problem here is that they do not truly believe that Jesus is and can do what He claims to be and do. You can see this in Jesus’ interaction with Martha. She was looking merely at the spiritual and not the temporal condition of her brother. When Mary met with Jesus she had the same response of her sister “if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.” This family that summoned Jesus was not an acquaintance. They were very close friends it says “the one you love is sick.” With that type of intimacy their unbelief of Him being Lord over all life and death brings Him to tears. Not tears of sorrow but indignation. Jesus becomes angry when He sees all of the people mourning over the death of Lazarus. Jesus is filled with indignation toward sin and its outcome. This anger moves Jesus to shed tears over the people who did not grasp who He was. The resurrection of Life was in front of them and they did not believe. Imagine that you are Jesus and you claim to be the Son of God giver and taker of life. You have performed all the miracles He had up till this time and has told you this sickness will not end in death. Then, you encounter some of your closest friends and they say if only you had been here earlier you could have done something. As if the creator and sustainer of all had missed His opportunity to perform a mighty work. Sort of like a paramedic who arrives after the body has been deceased for an hour. Oh, if only you had gotten here earlier. The fact that Satan can manipulate us and sin has played such a rampant role in keeping us from God insights anger in Jesus over the control sin has in our lives to the point of Him shedding tears.

One of the things this story brings out is that weeping, suffering, and death are presented as facts of life. But there are other facts than these. Jesus is hope in the presence of death and a hope that continues after the death of those we care about. This is why Jesus wept. The people did not have any hope. They thought all was lost when the only hope they had to live for was right in front of their eyes. The people didn’t get it completely wrong. The people had it right by referencing the healing of the blind man and Jesus being able to heal Lazarus. But the fact that they made this statement shows they were puzzled and confused by the situation. The fact that they questioned this shows their unbelief in what Jesus is capable of.

Jesus is the light of the world and no one comes to the Father but though Him. How often do we make Jesus weep still today? If the light of the world has been given to us and we do not take it into the darkness I believe it grieves Jesus to the point of tears not out of sorrow because people are dying, but out of anger because we have the hope of the world and we are not doing anything about it. This is an emergency because Christ is coming again and if we do not bring His light into dark places they face the same condition as Lazarus except they will be spiritually dead, separated from God for eternity. If we know this fact and do nothing about it I believe that Jesus weeps. The problem today is the same as then. The light of the world has made Himself known and people still do not believe. If we are selfish enough to do nothing about it I believe it frustrates our Lord because essentially we are doing what Jonah did. Not wanting to share the Good News of Christ because we know God is gracious and will have mercy on them. When we do this I believe Jesus weeps. There is hope in this world and that hope is in Christ. Let us be the ambassadors that He has called us to be and let Him respond with well done my good and faithful servant and not in tears!