Jesus wept.

This verse is a favorite for many simply because it’s the shortest in the Bible. So if you want to work on memorization this is the place to start!

It’s a straightforward verse that doesn’t need a lot of explanation.  We get weeping, but it begs the question why?  It could appear as though He was sad over the death of his dear friend Lazarus.  But why would He be sad at this news, now?  He knew back in verse 11 that Lazarus was already dead and he didn’t weep then.  Many think that Jesus was just weeping because He felt so badly for the sisters and all who were mourning and this may be true.  After all,  there is nothing that will make me cry more quickly than watching other people cry.

Interestingly in verse 33 and again in verse 38 scripture says He “groaned in His spirit”, some translations say “deeply moved”  it means that he felt indignant.  He was ticked off!

Say what?!

Have you ever cried when you were angry? I sure have.  Sometimes all that emotion just comes flowing out of my tear ducts.  At that level of anger I feel so helpless I just don’t know what else to do.  But if I can be vulnerable for a moment, this takes me back a few years, during the time I was caring for my parents  who were both in the end stages of cancer.  There was more than one occassion when I left them crying.  Not because they were dying. I knew they were dying and there was plenty of time grieving that loss.  Not because I felt badly for their friends and other family that were losing them, or even for their own losses, although there was time and a place for all of that too.  No,  I would drive away from their home with indignant tears, because they were in so much pain and were hanging on to life here on earth for what purpose, when they could be frolicking in the presence of God.  It was maddening and frustrating and brought tears. Never-the-less Lord, not my will but Yours would always be the conclusion to my sobbing prayer during that familiar 2-mile drive from their home to mine.

So what caused Jesus to be so upset that it brought Him to tears?  We don’t know exactly because scripture doesn’t spell that out.  But it may have been because Lazarus was in that moment free from this world.  Lazarus would not even have to have to suffer the loss of Christ Himself in short time.  Maybe He was so upset because all of the people around Him were mourning when they should have been celebrating and it just a reminder of how selfish we all can be in our humanity.  Was there a place for Jesus sadness and mourning, for sure.  Was He crying tears of mourning?  Maybe.  Maybe they were tears of frustration or tears of anger.  Maybe they were tears of another kind of sorrow.

What does this mean for us?

First  we should remember that Jesus felt!  Sadness, anger, joy, He felt all of the things we feel. Therefore we can go to Him honestly, and pour our hearts out to Him and have the assurance that He understands. Not just because He is God and God knows everything,  but because He was equally human and experienced sorrow, and frustration, and anger, just like we do.

Second we need to look at the circumstances of life with an eternal perspective.  Our lives are a “mist” here today and gone tomorrow (James 4:14).  This doesn’t mean that we don’t matter.  Oh we are precious to God, but our life on earth goes so quickly that James compared it to a vapor.  When we see things the way God sees them, our circumstances are not as tragic or serious as we initially feel they are. In fact quite often those circumstances will fade like a mist and will soon be forgotten.  Let’s work toward having more of an eternal perspective and less of an earthly, temporal one.