Jesus Wept

Jesus Wept
January 2, 2012
John 11:35 "Jesus wept."

Jesus wept. Yes, Jesus cried; He was deeply moved to tears on several occasions out of His great compassion. In fact, the Bible has more accounts of Jesus displaying compassion for others than any other feeling or emotion. In this particular verse, "Jesus wept," the Bible was recounting the story of Lazarus' death. Remember the story for a moment. Jesus was off preaching in another city when news came to Him that Lazarus, His friend, was sick. Jesus didn't seem concerned by the sickness and ignored the request to come to his aid. He even assured everyone that Lazarus wouldn't die, that he would be OK. By the time Jesus got to where Lazarus lived, Lazarus had died and was in the grave for four days; he was rotting flesh. Jesus appeared to Lazarus' friends and family, assuring them that Lazarus would rise from the dead.

The Bible says that Jesus wept RIGHT AFTER He had assured everyone publicly that Lazarus would rise from the dead. Why in the world was Jesus weeping? He wasn't crying because He was sad that Lazarus had died. He wasn't crying because He had arrived late and didn't simply heal Lazarus' sickness. Jesus even knew Lazarus' soul was safe from Hell. He KNEW Lazarus would rise from the dead, so why was Jesus sad? Jesus wept because He was moved with compassion by the sorrow that everyone else had over the death of Lazarus. Jesus wept because He had empathy for the experiences of others. In the story, Lazarus' friends and family were grieving because of the great loss. Jesus, even though He realized there wasn't really a loss (because He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead), still grieved alongside those who were grieving.

This reveals so much about the character of our Lord. The things that matter to us are the things that matter to the Lord, even if they are a non-issue in His mind. The state of Lazarus didn't phase the Lord, dead or alive. Jesus was moved by the emotions of those around Him; He was moved to tears from His compassion for them. If we understood this about the Lord, His true compassion for our situations, it would change how we bring them to His feet. If we understood that the Lord really cares for us, then we would be more willing to bring Him our problems and concerns. Jesus weeps when you weep.

Christian, if you are carrying around a concern and you think no one understands or even cares about what you are going through, then you couldn't be more wrong. The Lord has a deep concern for the things on your heart and has always been concerned for what matters to you. He is deeply concerned for the burden you might be carrying alone and wants to assure you He is alongside you right now in whatever you are going through. If you let Him, He will walk through your difficult situations and experience every emotion you experience. And not only will He walk with you, He will carry you when you cannot walk any longer. The only caveat is that you must show Him your emotion, being honest with yourself and Him. When you become vulnerable with Him about what you are dealing with, you open the door for Him to begin His work. Don't be afraid to show Him your emotions, He can handle them and all your concerns.

Don't take my word for it; look it up: Ps 103:8&13, Ps 116:5, Is 49:13, Lam 3:22, John 11, Romans 12:15, 1 Cor 12:26, 2 Cor 1:3