Lent | The God who Weeps

Introduction

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When was the last time the tears flowed heavy for you? Maybe it’s been a while; maybe it was recent.

Not all tears are the same. Was it a longing for someone you missed?

Was it pain as a relationship was ending?

Was it regret over a mess you made?

Or was it because you encountered something so beautiful you were completely overwhelmed, and the tears came streaming down?

We all cry, some of us a little, some of us a lot.

We have two recorded times in Scripture that Jesus wept, though it is reasonable to assume there may have been more times, especially when he was young.

in Luke 19, Jesus weeps in sorrow because the people are unrepentant, and because destruction is coming, and His heart of love breaks for those people. If only they would repent, and believe, and receive the salvation he gives!

The other occurrence is in John 11, when His dear friends Lazarus dies. And so do the others who knew Lazarus. But see what Jesus says to them.

John 11:25 ESV

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,

Are there more beautiful words in the Bible?

These words are the ultimate truth. The truth that I get to preach weekly, the truth you get to share daily, the truth that I get to assure people of before they take their last breath or when they are mourning a loss.

But right now, these are the words that Jesus shares with Lazarus’ sister.

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.”

Mary said the same thing that Martha had said. It reveals that Jesus is compassionate, and His compassion moves Him to take action.

God is gracious and merciful. He takes pity on us, and His compassion moves Him to act in grace for us.

this is why he heals the sick.

This is why He binds up the brokenhearted.

This is why He draws near to the lonely, the widow, the orphan, and to all who call out to Him in their need.

And it is the compassion of Jesus that moves Him to act for Lazarus and for us.

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.

John 11:38 ESV

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

So in just a few verses we hear He is deeply moved, greatly troubled, Jesus wept, and He was deeply moved again.

This sounds like grief. This sounds like someone mourning the reality that the world is broken and full of pain.

This sounds like someone who is not OK with death.

And if it were you or me, it would sound like someone who needs peace and comfort. But it’s not you and me, it’s Jesus.

And He does not need to find some peace and comfort...He has come to deliver peace and comfort.

He has come to undo what Satan has done.

He has come to bear our sin, taste our death, lie in our grave so that His promise of life wouldn’t be empty.

What’s more profound and more beautiful than the words, “Jesus wept?” How about these words: “’Lazarus, come out.’ The man who had died came out”! And these words, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Jesus promises that all who believe in Him will live even though they die, and that whoever lives and believes in Him will never die.

So even though we die, our soul lives on with God.

And one day, the Last Day, Jesus will raise our bodies from the grave too, and we will be perfected soul and glorified body, you will be you, and I will be me, but we will be immortal, made for the New Heavens and New Earth that Jesus will make on the Last Day.

That’s the promise that Jesus demonstrated He could keep by raising Lazarus from the dead.

When God weeps, he isn’t just moping around. He grieves for us, but then acts for us. Thank God for His compassion, for His pity, for His weeping, and for the resurrection.

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