Lazarus, Part 6 - Jesus Wept
John 11v28-37
25th November 2022
Jesus had returned from Perea to Judea to visit the village of Bethany, where Martha and Mary lived, because their brother Lazarus had died. Martha had gone out to see Jesus as He approached the village. Jesus had assured her, "Your brother will rise again." and revealed to her that "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die." Jesus then asked her, "Do you believe this?" and Martha answered, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."
The next verses of John's Gospel speak for themselves:
John 11v28-31
And after she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. "The
Teacher is here," she said, "and is asking for you."
When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him.
Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where
Martha had met him.
When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how
quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to
the tomb to mourn there.
On hearing that Jesus had come, Mary rushed out to meet Him. Her first words to Jesus were exactly the same as Martha's had been:
John 11v32
When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet
and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
Whereas Martha had, I think, looked Jesus in the eye, Mary fell at his feet. This may have been in part an act of supplication, begging Jesus to act, to do something to make things better, but it was also an act of worship, of respect, of submission. Jesus's response to Mary was quite unlike His response to Martha.
John 11v33-35
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also
weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
"Where have you laid him?" he asked.
"Come and see, Lord," they replied.
Jesus wept.
Isn't it wonderful that Jesus treats each one of us as an individual? He knows exactly what we need. Whatever your circumstances, whether you're feeling triumphant or devastated, in good health or ill, wealthy or poor, popular or lonely, Jesus knows just the right way to help you. He will always provide what you need.
Jesus was very emotionally upset. The word translated as "deeply moved" is embrimaomai. It comes from the word for being angry, like a snorting horse. The word translated "troubled" is tarassō, which means "agitated". Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus and His heart went out to them. He hated the anguish this family were going through.
Jesus is troubled by our suffering and death. He was - and is - angry at the sin which results in physical death for us all, and which will result in eternal spiritual death for us unless we receive by faith His redeeming sacrifice for us on the cross. He hates these things so much that He died to pay the penalty for our sin and to take away our sin so that we might live for ever.
John 1v29
John saw Jesus coming towards him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes
away the sin of the world!"
Jesus was openly emotional. Not for Jesus the stiff-upper-lip, stay-strong, keep-your-emotions-in-check, say-something-pious-about-trusting-God stuff. As well as being God, Jesus was human. And, like all healthy humans, He was deeply moved and He unashamedly shed tears. He shares our humanity – that was one of the reasons for the incarnation. He weeps with us, and for us. He is emotional, passionate. This is a good thing, not a bad thing. There is nothing holy at all about hiding our emotions, or pretending that we haven't got any. Jesus lived out the idea that we should:
Romans 12v15
Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.
Jesus weeps for you.
On a personal note, my son died last week. I don't expect God to raise him from the dead (although I know He could) but I know God stands at my side and weeps with me.
John 11v36-37
Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"
But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have
kept this man from dying?"
As always, some could see Jesus as a force for good, and some couldn't. Those who believed in Jesus (whether or not they had come to faith) saw how He loved Lazarus. Those who didn't believe in Him asked instead, "If He could really heal the blind, why couldn't he keep Lazarus alive?" I think this was a rhetorical question, meaning "Maybe the stories about Jesus aren't really true." or possibly, "Jesus couldn't be bothered to help Lazarus, so He can't have loved him all that much."
There is no question that Jesus could have healed Lazarus, if that was what God wanted. But, as we've seen, God has a higher purpose. And, as we will see in the next few verses, God would raise Lazarus from the dead soon after.
This story teaches us that we can trust God even when He doesn't do what we think He should. It teaches us that God is achieving more through our circumstances than we think He is. And it teaches us that even when things seem to have gone so wrong that there is no hope left, there is still hope. God can do anything – even raise the dead.
This last lesson would soon be repeated for the disciples, when Jesus was crucified and all hope seemed to be gone. Three days later, God raised Jesus from the dead – and brought new hope to the world.