Jesus Wept

John 11:28–44 ESV

28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31 When 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. 32 Now 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.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?” 38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

The key verse of our text today and the focus of our thoughts is John 11:35, the shortest verse in the Bible, which simply says…

John 11:35 ESV

Jesus wept.

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Why did Jesus weep?

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This verse is tucked into the middle of this story about one of Jesus' best friends, Lazarus, who had died. Lazarus' sisters, Mary and Martha, had sent a messenger to get Jesus when they saw how sick their brother was.

But Jesus stayed where he was for several more days. By the time he arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days.

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Before Jesus had started for Bethany, of course, he told his disciples that Lazarus' death would be for God's glory. So why did Jesus weep?

1. Jesus wept because he could not keep Death from touching the human race.

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Wait a second! How could this be true? Think about it. Every funeral where Jesus was present, he ruined it by raising people from the dead.

When Jesus and his disciples met the funeral procession that one day, what did Jesus do? He raised the young man from the dead. Even in our text, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead!

Because we see Jesus healing people miraculously and raising people from the dead over and over throughout the Gospel, it might be tempting for us to think that Jesus doesn't understand the reality of suffering and death.

The truth is that Jesus feels great empathy, love, and compassion for those in need. Jesus constantly healed people because of his love for them.

We should recognize that Jesus healed people and raised people from the dead to provide signs that he is the Messiah.

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If Jesus' only purpose was to help people get out of their problems, we might wonder why Jesus did not heal every single person of whatever ailment they had.

Remember the man by the pool of Siloam? Jesus walked through a crowd of people who needed healing and spoke to this one man, offering him health and wellness.

Because Adam sinned - death and suffering have entered the world.

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Think about this statement for a moment.

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Before Adam and Eve sinned, there was no death, suffering or sin present in our world.

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Before their rebellion against God, all our world had experienced was only life. And in the middle of the lush garden God had created was a Tree of Life, which bore fruit to give continued life.

Romans 5:12 ESV

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

Someone has written…

Death is not a natural extension of life, though many psychologists and thanatologists argue that point today. Death is an enemy, created as a result of sin, and ultimately to be destroyed by God.

Gangel, K. O. (2000). John (Vol. 4, p. 213). Broadman & Holman Publishers.

Because of sin, we all will die physically someday. Yet… because of God's great love and His desire to demonstrate to us that He is God, He sometimes works miracles that contradict the laws of nature.

But a basic law of nature is that all life will die. Yet it was never God's plan or desire that death would touch the human race. So Jesus wept as He saw Death ravaging the human race.

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2. Jesus wept because he knew death would cause his followers doubt. 

When a loved one dies, often people begin to question God's goodness. Sometimes, people tell God he is unfair.

Even the faithful Christian may struggle with such questions.

"Why, God, did you have to allow this person to die? God, you see all these wicked people around me, don't you? Why couldn't they die instead of my friend, my family?"

What did both Martha and Mary say to Jesus, in verses twenty-one and thirty-two of John 11?

John 11:21 ESV

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

John 11:32 ESV

Now 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.”

Jesus wept because he knew death would cause his followers doubt.

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Jesus strongly desired for his followers to trust him. He wanted them to have faith in him.

But Jesus also knows human nature. He knew that many would struggle to trust him when they experienced great heartache and pain.

Jesus' desire is that all would trust him. Quite frankly, however, there have been many who have given up on God because of heartaches they have experienced.

I am reminded of a story I’ve used as a sermon illustration different times in the past. It’s the story of Jack who was president of a large corporation. Jack got cancer and they ruthlessly dumped him. He went through his insurance, his life savings and had virtually nothing left.

A pastor visited Jack with one of his deacons. The deacon said, “Jack, you speak so openly about the brief life you have left. I wonder if you’ve prepared for your life after death.”

Jack stood up, livid with rage. “You **** **** **** **** Christians. All you ever think about is what’s going to happen to me after I die. If your God is so great, why doesn’t He do something about the real problems of life,” he asked.

He then went on to tell the pastor and deacon he was leaving his wife penniless and his daughter without money for college. Then, he ordered them to leave.

Later, the deacon insisted that he and the pastor return. When they met with Jack, the deacon apologized for offending Jack. Then, he went on to explain that he had worked on some ways to provide for Jack’s wife and daughter when he died.

A realtor in the church would sell the house and give Jack’s wife his commission. The deacon and some other men in the church would make the house payments until it sold.

The deacon had also contacted the owner of an apartment house down the street, who would provide Jack’s wife a three bedroom apartment, free utilities, and a monthly salary in return for collecting rents and supervising repairs. The deacon also figured the income from their house could put Jack’s daughter through college.

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Jack cried like a baby. He died not long after, so wrapped in pain that he never accepted Christ. Yet God showed his love to Jack even while he rejected him, and his widow did respond to the Gospel.

I believe Jesus weeps when we give up on faith.

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3. Jesus wept for the pain he saw in people he loved.

Hebrews 4:15 ESV

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

We know Jesus experienced suffering and death. He sympathizes with us in our suffering. But do we understand and believe that he sympathizes with us fully?

Jesus is the Son of God. He's perfect.

I wonder if we may see Jesus as somewhat aloof from our pain? After all, Jesus is God!

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Surely, it was easier for Jesus as the God-man to resist temptation, right?

Surely, the fact that Jesus could heal people of sickness and disease means that he never had a cold or the flu, right?

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Or did he?

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Do you see where this line of reasoning leads? The question is: were Jesus' emotions really "real"?

But they were! Martha, Mary, and Lazarus were some of Jesus' closest friends. Seeing the pain and grief in Martha and Mary's voices and eyes... Jesus' tears were genuine.

Jesus is both fully God and fully man. During his life on earth he fully experienced the human existence so that he can genuinely sympathize with all our pain, heartache, grief, and loss.

Do we understand this? In a culture which glorifies superheroes who are impervious to bullets, who are thrown around like rag dolls, punched, kicked and more… and then get up to pummel the enemy… I’m afraid we picture Jesus in the same way - a superhero who doesn’t truly relate to our griefs and sorrow.

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But the truth is very different. Isaiah 53:3

Isaiah 53:3 ESV

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Jesus was not like some chiseled hunk of beauty like the superheros or movie characters we sometimes idolize.

Isaiah 53:2 ESV

… he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.

Think about it.

Jesus had a human parentage. He had a human body, soul, and spirit. He looked like a man and possessed human flesh and blood.

He grew, asked questions, increased in wisdom, prayed, was tempted, hungered, thirsted, was weary, slept, loved, had compassion, was angered and grieved, wept, experienced joy, sweat drops of blood, suffered, bled, died, and was buried.

“[Jesus] was born like a man. He lived like a man. He died like a man. In the Gospels, Jesus Christ exhibits all the signs of being human. But He was God wrapped in flesh.”

Adapted, https://sermoncentral.com/sermon-illustrations/101748/the-humanity-of-christ-in-scripture-by-dr-larry-petton

In our text, there is a curious phrase that is used twice. First, in verse 33,

John 11:33 ESV

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.

Then, we read that Jesus wept. Some questioned why this miracle worker had not kept his friend from dying.

John 11:38 ESV

Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.

The Greek word that is rendered “deeply moved” is embrimaomai. Someone has explained:

In classical Greek this word describes the snort of a horse (in war or in a race). For humans it describes outrage, fury, or anger. … The word “indicates an outburst of anger, and any attempt to reinterpret it in terms of an internal emotional upset caused by grief, pain, or sympathy is illegitimate.” This is further seen in the explanation John attaches: Jesus was not only outraged but “troubled.”

But what arouses Jesus’ anger? Why is he outraged in the deepest level of his being? He is certainly not angry at Martha, Mary, or their mourners. Rather, he is overcome by the futility of this sorrowful scene in light of the reality of the resurrection. God’s people possess knowledge of life; they should possess a faith that claims victory at the grave. But here they stand, overcome in seeming defeat. And here stands the One in whom victory, life, and resurrection are powerful realities. Jesus is angry at death itself and the devastation it brings.

Burge, G. M. (2000). John (pp. 317–318). Zondervan Publishing House.

4. Jesus wept because he lost a dear friend. 

Lazarus, Martha, and Mary were very close friends of Jesus. Now that Lazarus had died, Jesus experienced the separation, the loneliness, that comes when loved ones die.

Sometimes, people try to stifle the grief they feel when experiencing loss.

Sometimes, people think they should hold in their emotions.

Sometimes, people suggest that it is spiritual not to grieve.

Yes, God works everything together for good for those who love him. But we should never suggest that this bad thing that has happened is good.

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Nor should we suggest that it is good this bad thing happened so that good might come from it.

Dr. James Dobson wrote a story in one of his books many years ago of a pastor whose daughter was in a tragic accident and lost one of her legs.

The church, in the shock and grief they experienced seeing this happen to their dearly loved pastor’s daughter, sought God… and a revival broke out in the church.

Sometime later, a well meaning member of the church came to the pastor and said, “Pastor, I think I know why God allowed this tragedy to happen to your daughter - it was to bring about revival in the church!”

The pastor somewhat angrily responded, “So what is God going to do when this revival wanes? Is he going to chop off my daughter’s other leg so the revival will continue?!”

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Do you see the mistake in such thinking… that God causes or allows bad things to happen in order to create good?

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When bad things happen, it is bad.

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It is only right to grieve when we experience loss. Fortunately, God can still create good from such bad things. But bad things are bad!

In this story, we find this tension. Jesus had come to Bethany to raise his friend from the dead. But in the face of death and loss, Jesus also felt the pain of death,

5. Jesus wept also for the agony of death he knew he was soon would suffer.

Jesus' death on the Cross at this point was just a few days, a couple weeks or so, away.

As Jesus heard about Lazarus' suffering before he died, as Jesus saw the pain and grief in Mary and Martha's eyes, no doubt the reality of his soon coming death really settled in.

Jesus would die a most terrible death. He would be beaten mercilessly and hung on a cross. More importantly, Jesus would bear our sins upon his shoulders as he died on the cross.

Do you remember the struggle and agony Jesus experienced as he approached Calvary?

In John 13 Jesus taught his disciples a powerful lesson on leadership, service, and humility as he washed their feet. And he intimated that one of them would turn against him.

John 13:21 ESV

After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”

Much later than night, after Judas Iscariot had departed to plan his evil scheme, Jesus took the Eleven to Gethsemane.

Matthew 26:38 ESV

Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.”

The disciples slept as Jesus continued to pray.

Luke 22:44 ESV

And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Jesus wept … and you can too!

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While suffering and death are real, our hope in Christ is also real.

So… while Jesus wept for sorrow, Jesus also shouted …

6. Jesus shouted because he is the resurrection and the life!

In John 11:43-44 we read…

John 11:43–44 ESV

When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Just a few days - about a week or two - after this event Jesus shouted again.

This time Jesus shouted while hanging on a cruel Cross, suffering unjustly, bearing the sins of the whole world upon his shoulders.

Everybody looking on saw a defeated man. Some believed he was just a fraud.

But in the midst of his suffering and agony, the fear of his friends and the revenge of his enemies, Jesus shouted again. It was a shout of finality, but not because he was defeated.

It was a shout before death, but it did not end with Jesus in the grave.

John 19:30 ESV

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

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Jesus shouted, "It is finished!" in victory over sin and death! 

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And three days later, Jesus would rise from the dead, victor over all evil.

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Jesus fully empathizes with us in our pain. But Jesus also has power to bring us life - spiritual life and eternal life.

Big Idea: Jesus understands our grief and offers us life.

Romans 3:23 state a truth we already know, even if we don't want to admit it:

Romans 3:23 ESV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 6:23 further warns us,

Romans 6:23 ESV

For the wages of sin is death, …

But the rest of that verse gives us glorious hope, a hope afforded through Christ's death on the Cross and resurrection from the grave:

Romans 6:23 ESV

… but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We have all sinned. If we refuse to admit our sins and trust in Christ as our Lord and Savior, we will go for eternity to a place that was not designed for us - a place of anguish and regret. 

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But if we confess our sins and trust in Christ, God will forgive us our sins, give us new life, and take us home someday to live with him for eternity!

1 Corinthians 15:51–55 ESV

51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

It is true - Jesus does not choose to miraculously heal us of every disease and fix every problem we face. But even in the face of suffering and death, we can find comfort in Christ.

Despite our feelings of pain and loss and sadness, our comfort and hope in Christ is greater. We can know he loves us and sympathizes with our pain. And, we can also know that one day, he will right all that is wrong in this broken, sinful world.

And that is truly something to shout about!

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Like Jesus and his friends, we may - we will - throughout life feel the full gamut of human emotions: laughter, sadness, fear, joy, sorrow, grief.

If we have placed our trust - in Jesus, however, we need not weep without hope. Rather, we can take comfort in knowing Jesus has experienced the same feelings of sorrow and gried, but has overcome them - and offers us victory as well.

Let us then live with hope in the midst of sorrow, joy in the middle of pain. For in Jesus we have life - abundant, eternal, real life!