Jesus Weeps

I am aware once again at the size of the chunk of scripture that I've posted. Fear not, this is not an in depth exposition of the whole passage verse for verse, but this is merely to provide context.

Before further explanation, let me say that I am going to come back to the parable of the prodigal son, but right now I'm kind of busy studying the Scriptures to have time to study the Scriptures. In other words, after personal devotions and classwork for my Bible classes and other classes, I haven't had time to do any more studying of the prodigal son. This passage and insight is in fact something that I stumbled across while working on my Biblical Interpretation homework, and I felt that it would be good to share.

I Am the Resurrection and the Life
17Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 23Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
Jesus Weeps
28When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. 30Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35Jesus wept. 36So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

Most of us probably know about how Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and we've probably heard some teaching on the profound nature of His claim in verses 25 and 26: "I am the resurrection and the life."

What I would like to focus in on is verses 33-35. I'll repeat it so your eyes don't have to find it again in the bigger passage:

33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34And he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." 35Jesus wept.

In verse 35, Jesus wept. In verse 36, the Jews say, "See how he loved him!" and there is some validity to that remark, but I think also that Jesus was weeping not for Lazarus, but for the suffering that he saw Mary going through.

There's a cliche that goes, "I know what you're going through," or "I know how you feel." Jesus Christ can actually say that, and have it be absolutely, 100% true in every way. Until verse 33, this passage says nothing about Jesus being troubled or mourning, but when He sees Mary weeping, that is when He was "deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled" (v 34).

As Christians, it seems that when we are going through struggles, it may be hard to remember that God is sovereign over our circumstances, and that all things work for the good of those who love Him, but at least we know these two things from an intellectual standpoint. And those are good things that are encouraging to remember.

What we see of Jesus in this passage is something that we don't necessarily think of as often. We see Jesus' compassion. He knew that soon, Lazarus would be raised again, and Mary would rejoice in that, just like he knows that our sufferings on this earth are temporary. But this doesn't change the fact that He truly feels compassion and mourns WITH us. He cries with us. He actually cares about what we are going through on a personal level, and we can cling to that when this world brings us pain. What a great and compassionate God we serve!