This is the shortest verse in the Bible and easy to memorize. But do we really understand it?
When Lazerus died, Jesus was so overcome with sadness that He wept. Weeping is more than just tearing up a little. Weeping is crying out loud in sorrow. Jesus, even knowing He would be raising Lazarus from the dead and knowing that Lazarus was alive in heaven, wept because He was fully human and people cry when their loved ones die - even Christians who know their saved loved ones are in paradise and we will see them again one day. Did He weep because he felt sorry for the mourning people around Him? Did He weep because He knew where Lazerus was and He felt grief over having to bring him back from the heaven and return him to a sin-cursed world? We don't know what His thoughts were but one thing is certain, Jesus cared deeply about Lazerus and his sisters.
That's not the only time recorded in the Bible that Jesus wept. He wept over Jerusalem because He knew destruction was going to come upon them in the future because of their disobedience (Luke 19:41 NKJV - Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it). He was grieved when thinking about the violence the city was headed toward. Jesus cared deeply for the people of Jerusalem and the thought of its' destruction had an emotional impact on Him.
Another account of Jesus crying is in Hebrews 5:7 - who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear - because of the context of this verse, I believe that this happened repeatedly while He was here, on earth as a human being.
It had to be almost torture to have to leave heaven as an eternal being with limitless power and take on a human body and with the restrictions that placed on Him. And He didn't have access to heaven during His time here. Only through prayer could He communicate with the Father. There are numerous accounts of Him going away to a quiet place to pray. This was His one comfort while He was here. I think He probably found time to be alone with the Father every day of His short life on earth. Direct communication with the Father was vitally important to His mission and ministry while He was here. I look at my daily "quiet time" with the Lord differently now than I used to. Now I crave that sweet time alone with God and I feel unprepared to face the day without it.
I hadn't really thought much about Jesus weeping but today I have thought about it a lot. Primarily because I know a woman whose father passed away a week ago and she is really struggling emotionally with that loss. I have been trying to search for ways to comfort her and while thinking about that I started thinking about how deeply Jesus cares for us. He prays for us (John 17:9, 15 & 20). He watches over us (2 Chronicles 16:9). He wept for us (Hebrews 5:7). He saved us (John 3:16).
Wow! What a God!
2 comments:
I read I Corinthuans 15 frequently after my father died. It helped me think of him as alive there as I knew him here.
One whose loved one died before mine shared: Don't ask why. I also learned not to say, "if only" because I realized I neither wanted to know why, nor if. What I wanted was my daddy.back. Mourning is normal--our siciety wants to hurry us, but look at the mourning for Jacob in scripture. We will always miss the one we love, but the God of all Comfort desires to comfort us if we will accept it from His heart and hand.
I agree! Asking “why” when someone dies is to question God’s wisdom. Much better just to trust that His plan is best and lean into His arms for comfort.
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