Jesus wept. John 11:35

[2bba]

Christians have come to know this verse as being the shortest verse in the Bible. I'm not even sure if that is a correct statement.

Jesus wept.

The context is that his friend Lazarus had died four days before and he came before the cave and everyone was sad. Many were saying if Jesus was so great why hadn't he come to heal this man before he died.

John 11:33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping who came with her, he groaned in his spirit, and was troubled,

Moments later Jesus wept. Why did He weep? I think this might be the shortest verse in the Bible but it is packed with great meaning and truth. Jesus knew that He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead. He in fact tarried so that he would not reach Lazarus in time to heal him.

I think He may have been weeping for all of us at that moment. For all the anguish and suffering in the world, for the hardness of our hearts. It is hard to imagine that He could do it, but in that moment He perhaps thought of each one of us.

Moments later he said the following:

John 11:43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.

I remember a preacher saying once that Christ specifically said Lazarus, because if he would have said something like just "come forth" everyone in the world would have been resurrected. He had the power to do so, but it was not the right time. Someday, maybe soon, it will be the right time.

Did Jesus just weep for the people that were around him, because of the sadness in their hearts, because of the loss of Lazarus? Did he weep because of the loss of Lazarus? It does not make much since seeing as He knew the sorrow would turn into joy. Perhaps he was also weeping for Lazarus because He knew that Lazarus would have to come back to this world again, what might Lazarus have seen while away?

Jesus wept.

Just two words, but they have a profound impact. Our savior wept. Just the fact that he wept should show us of His love of His creation. I think the whole reason Jesus wept is far more complicated than I have just stated.

Why do you think Jesus wept?

[artsylady]

I read a commentary somewhere else that was very similar to this not too long ago. I agree with the above. Jesus knew he was going to heal Lazarus yet he still felt the pain of his friends. It's good to know that when we feel pain here in our struggles, our Lord also feels our pain.

[other one]

I have always wondered if Jesus knew where Lazarus had gone and he was rather sad to have to bring him back into this world to die again. I like to think this was the reason for His tears.

Sam

[nebula]

Why do you think Jesus wept?

Martha came to Jesus, and He instructed her and revealed Himself to her in a new way ("I am the resurrection and the life").

Mary came to Jesus, and He wept.

Why?

Martha needed ot hear those words from Jesus. She was more a leader and server, relating to the world through action and cognition.

Mary needed for Jesus to cry with her. She was more a person of mercy, relating to the world through depths of feeling.

I see Jesus ministered to these two women where they needed it and how they needed it.

His tears were for Mary's comfort.

[2bba]

Why do you think Jesus wept?

Martha came to Jesus, and He instructed her and revealed Himself to her in a new way ("I am the resurrection and the life").

Mary came to Jesus, and He wept.

Why?

Martha needed ot hear those words from Jesus. She was more a leader and server, relating to the world through action and cognition.

Mary needed for Jesus to cry with her. She was more a person of mercy, relating to the world through depths of feeling.

I see Jesus ministered to these two women where they needed it and how they needed it.

His tears were for Mary's comfort.

I agree with everything you said as far as it goes, but I think the Lord had much more on his mind at the time. Just within the situation that was going on then you also had people saying why couldn't this man, not MAN, have come and healed him. Many still had no concept of who He really was even after all he had done. It would grieve him for the hardness of their hearts.

This then would be a small picture of the entire human race, even of today, the struggle of who Jesus is continues.

[Orr v'emet]

I agree with all the above as well. When I read this verse I am reminded most of all about how "human" Jesus was. It tells me that when I hurt, he hurts. It deepens my relationship with Him to know that he came to this earth as God and man and went through things that I have faced or will have to face; that He is not some being out there who has no clue to what challenges I may face. He has been there and done that. There is alot of comfort in that. It also just give us a little more insight to the character of our Lord that is so awesome!

[Guest Saint Wes]

I think Jesus wept for a different reason.

First off, the Jews that were present were there comforting Mary about the death of Lazarus. They were most likely tring to get Mary to accept the death of her brother.

Jesus came with a differnet message, the ressurection from the dead.

Athough the Jews who were present with Mary were there to comfort her, when they saw Jesus it presented a challenge to them. Jesus could do something that they couldn't.

Jesus was moved in spirit when he saw the Jews weeping with her. These were the same Jews that in verse 37 accuse Jesus of not doing enough! It is my opinion that Jesus was weeping because of the hardness of the hearts of the Jews, no matter what he did, they were always there accusing him - rejecting him.

Remember John chapter 1 - "He came to that which was his own, and his own recieved him not...."

I thiink he wept because he felt the rejection of the people he came to save.

Saint Wes

[Catsmeow]

Then there's the obvious: Jesus was sad because his friend, Lazarus, had endured sickness and then death.

Yes, Jesus could bring Lazarus to life but that doesn't change the fact that his friend had suffered sickness and then death. It always hurts when those we love suffer.

Jesus had feelings. He was God but he was a man, too.

[dwinkjr]

There has been alot of good insight here, i would have to agree with everything i have read thus far. But it also reminds me of something an old pastor of mine had told me.

I forgot all the specific details but it boils down to Jesus did not die from the stakes in his hands or feet or the wound in his side, but from a broken heart. I will have to do some research see if i can find the information on this again it was a great message and there is obviously alot more to it then i am presenting here lol.

God Bless,

Dave

[dwinkjr]

I did find a little bit on it... here you go.

_____________________________________________________

JESUS DIED OF A BROKEN HEART

"Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none" (Psalm 69:20).

In a normal corpse, the blood coagulates and the water does not flow clear. Doctors tell us that Jesus must have suffered a rupture of the pericardium, the sac in which the heart throbs. This is the only way that blood and water could have flowed out separately when Jesus was pierced. This, of course, fulfills the prophecy spoken by David hundreds of years before concerning the Lord's suffering a broken heart.

This probably took place at the time He experienced the weight of condemnation and guilt placed upon Him when He became sin for us. It was at this time that He felt like a man forsaken by His God--and it literally broke His heart.