“Jesus wept.” John 11:35
Recently, my wife came across the above picture posted on Facebook. She shared it with me, and I wanted to share it with you. The smallest verse in all of the Bible leaves one of the biggest impacts on me. John 11:35 is simply the two words, “Jesus wept.” God cried.
This is an amazingly simple and profound verse that is reflected in many different ways on many different pages of scripture. God is a God who feels, cares, cries, empathizes, and overflows with compassion. We may see God as standoffish or perhaps in such a perfect state or so far removed from our pain and brokenness that He couldn’t possibly relate or understand. This is not the Biblical picture of God. God is a God who enters in, experiences our pain, “rejoices with those who rejoice and weeps with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15).
We can surely identify with Lazarus’ sisters Martha and Mary in the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead. "Lord," Martha and Mary both said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Can you hear the hurt in their voices? How many times have we whispered such pain-filled words? “Lord, if only you had done something differently, I would not be filled the sorrow I am facing… Lord if only You would… Lord if only You were… Lord if You could just…”
When the people saw Jesus weeping, there were two main responses. “The people who were standing nearby said, “See how much He loved him!” But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t He have kept Lazarus from dying?” In other words, in the midst of this tragedy, some were focused on God’s great love; others were focused on what they felt He should have done differently.
I find that is a key difference when faced with my own sorrows. Am I focused on what I feel God should have done differently? Or am I anchored by the truth of how very deeply He loves me and that He is with me? God’s tears remind us that God cares. He doesn’t gloss over our sorrows. In fact, He is mindful of each one of our sorrows and carefully collects each tear of ours (Ps. 56:8). Could He have done something differently in the midst of a tragedy we face? Yes- and this side of Heaven, we may not understand why He chose not to. But we should pray that the Holy Spirit impresses upon our heart to the deepest levels that God deeply cares and loves us. “See how much He loved him.” Lord help us to see.
This story ends with a happy ending. Jesus brings Lazarus back to life. Like many movies we like, and Disney fairytale endings, there is a happily-ever-after. Yet many times in life, this is not the case. Sometimes the missionary dies. Sometimes the baby is lost. Sometimes the dad doesn’t come back. Sometimes what we hope for doesn’t happen. Sometimes there isn’t a happily-ever-after. But in the midst of this tragedy, we see a timeless and unchanging truth: Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. We can take heart because God cares and He has overcome the world. Whatever sorrow this world may bring, it isn’t unnoticed by God. And what’s more, if our trust is in Him, even when we don’t get the happily-ever-afters we want in this world, we can be certain that we are promised the happily-forever-after of Heaven with this loving God.