Vol. 21 No. 15 | April 15, 2019
“Jesus wept.” John, 11:35.
When asked to recite or memorize a Bible verse in Sunday School, we immediately chose the shortest verse in the Bible- John, 11:35. But there is more to these two words than just being short and easy to remember.
When Jesus learns of His dear friend Lazarus’s death, He waits two days before going to visit Lazarus’s family. When He arrives, Lazarus’s grieving and disappointed sisters challenge Him, insisting He could have healed him if He’d come earlier. When Jesus sees the sisters and those who had gathered to support them “Jesus wept.”
There are countless interpretations of why Jesus wept, but these are the three reasons I believe might have inspired His tears.
He wept because the people He loved were weeping. Jesus loved Lazarus and his sisters and knew they were heartbroken. He felt their loss and their pain and wanted to comfort them.
He wept because the people did not understand who He was. Despite the miracles Jesus had already performed, the prophesies about Him, and His efforts to explain His true identity, no one understood who He was and what He was capable of. He wanted them to know how much He loved them, and their lack of faith saddened Him.
He wept because He knew what was about to happen. He may have felt like we do when we know something extraordinary is about to happen to someone we love, but we can’t tell them. Maybe this is one of the reasons He wept. He was happy because the people He loved would soon know death is not the end.
Jesus wept then as we do now- when we are sad, confused, losing hope…or overcome with joy. Find comfort in that. As we move through this holy week of remembering and reflecting, weep when you need to, but remember, death is not the end.
He lives!
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