Joh 11:35  Jesus wept.

These are two words that have had a tremendous impact on me.  For the Son of God himself, to weep over something, over anything, has provided me with a lot of direction in my quest to know who He is.  To weep implies concern.  It implies compassion.  It implies true love. 

I never used to cry.  I just didn’t care enough about anyone else.  But I find myself tearing up now over some of the most unusual things.  Even though I am sometimes embarrassed and even wish this part of my growing compassion and love didn’t have to be, I am still thankful for this growth.  The ability to care for someone other than yourself hurts though.  If you don’t ever find yourself hurting for another, including even strangers, you might not be where Jesus wants you to be. 

I have been trying to figure out what exactly made Jesus weep at this point in the narrative for a while now.  I am pretty sure He weeps over quite a few of the things we do or fail to do.  But what happened in this story about Lazarus that had such an impact on Him that the Holy Spirit impressed it upon John to write this down in his gospel.

To find out why Jesus wept at this time we must look at the whole story behind it.  It started in John 11:1 when we find out that Lazarus is ill and Martha and Mary send for Jesus.  When He finds out He immediately lets everyone know that this illness will not lead to death but is to glorify God and Himself.  He waits a couple of days and then sets out to where His friends live.  The disciples are concerned and He lets them know that Lazarus has died so now it is time to go.  Why now?

Joh 11:14-15 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

Note the words that Jesus spoke.  Especially note the part that says, for your sake…so that you may believe.  They start out and the disciples still don’t get it, stating they might as well go and die also. 

Martha meets them and says she knows thing could have been different if Jesus had been there.  He tells her that Lazarus will rise (Joh 11:23) and she says she knows this.  He would rise in the resurrection.  Jesus lets her know that He is the resurrection and the life (Joh 11:25-26) and asks her, “Do you believe this?”

Martha says she does and goes and gets Mary.  When Mary comes to Jesus with others He sees that they are all weeping and then she tells Him basically the same thing that Martha had.  Then look at the next verse.

Joh 11:33  When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.

He was greatly troubled and then he asked about the tomb and that is when He wept.  Some who saw Him thought that He must have greatly loved Lazarus and some basically thought that He should have been there to save His friend.  Then we come to the real reason Jesus wept in the following verse.

Joh 11:40  Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”

Jesus had began by telling the disciples that this was all for Gods glory.  Did they believe and rejoice?  Then He told Martha that her brother would be resurrected.  Did she run and proclaim the good news to her sister and the others?  Then when Mary and the others came, still weeping, He realized the truth of the whole matter.  They did not believe. 

They thought they knew Him.  They thought their confession of Him was complete.  They thought they believed Him.  But their hearts said otherwise.  He wept because even after all that He had shown them, they still did not believe and receive Him for who He was. 

Another time, in Luke 19:41, He wept over Jerusalem.  Again He was weeping because of their unbelief.  The very people He had come to save did not believe Him and receive Him.

In the state of unbelief, we all make Jesus weep.  He does not just weep when the lost reject Him.  Jesus weeps when we do not accept what He says.  When we do not understand that His way is the only way.  When we do not believe He will do as He said He would do. 

If we could come to a place where we truly believe, radically believe, everything He has said, we might just start something real.  Something that would have eternity changing impact. 

No matter what, the fact that He did and probably does, weep for us all, should tell us that He truly does love us.

Jesus wept.  Do you care?  Do you believe? 

Love you all 

Tags: Belief, Believe, Compassion, Eternity, Grief, Heaven, Jesus Christ, Love, Trust, Unbelief