Day 74 – Jesus Wept

Read: John 11:17-37

Mary's conversation with Jesus stops short as He is suddenly overcome with emotion. "Jesus wept," (John 11:35). Not only is this the shortest verse in the New Testament, it is also one of the more puzzling.  Why did Jesus cry?  It is doubtful that it was because He was merely sad about the death of Lazarus. After all, Jesus knew what He was about to do. He understood that Lazarus would not be dead much longer. It is also not likely to have been because of the grieve of His friends Mary and Martha. Jesus knew that within moments their grief would become unspeakable joy. If anything, Jesus should have been giddy with the anticipation of what was about to happen.

But there is another, more fundamental question raised by this little verse: What kind of god cries? A vengeful, angry god? A disconnected and distant god? A god who cries hardly fits those stereotypes. And to be clear, this was not the only time Jesus wept. Luke tells us that as Jesus "approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it," (Luke 19:41). The writer of Hebrews reflects, "During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears," (Hebrews 5:7). The fact the Messiah would come weeping should have come as no surprise. The prophet Isaiah said He would be "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief," (Isaiah 53:3)

First, Jesus' tears demonstrate His humanity. They remind us that He is familiar with our suffering (Hebrews 4:15) and is willing to bear it for us (Isaiah 53:4). Jesus meets Mary in her grieve and responds to her doubts by crying with her. In some ways, He absorbed her grieve with His tears. Second, I believe Jesus weeps so that we will know mourning is not disbelieving. Some Christians act as if grief is evidence of a lack of faith. At Lazarus's tomb, Jesus dispels that myth. The Apostle Paul encouraged the Thessalonians to grieve, but to do it as people who have hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). 

But most of all, I believe Jesus cried because of the condition of humankind. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Death was not original to His Father's plan. While Jesus knew that He would raise Lazarus to life, He also knew Lazarus would again face death -- the same death that awaits each of us.

Jesus was overwhelmed with the condition of a broken world. For every disabled person He would heal, there would be millions more. For each blind person whose sight He restored, countless others would remain in the dark. God cries for His children and longs for the day when all the dead will rise, and death and sickness will be no more. Until then it is nice to know that God cares and shares in our grief.

Jesus,

Cry with me as I mourn the suffering of a world racked with pain.

Weep with me as I consider the plight of millions whose suffering

seems to know no bounds.

Mourn with me over a worldly system that appears to perpetuate injustice.

May I see in the reflection of Your tears, the love poured out on Your cross,

And may my mourning be turned into dancing

as I share in the power of Your resurrection.

Amen