Jesus Wept

John 11:30-37 (HCSB)
30 Jesus had not yet come into the village but was still in the place where Martha had met Him.
31 The Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw that Mary got up quickly and went out. So they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to cry there.
32 When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell at His feet and told Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died!”
33 When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, He was angry in His spirit and deeply moved.
34 “Where have you put him?” He asked. “Lord,” they told Him, “come and see.”
35 Jesus wept.
36 So the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”
37 But some of them said, “Couldn’t He who opened the blind man’s eyes also have kept this man from dying?”

Lazarus died and Jesus waited for three days before going to his home. He was very good friends with Lazarus, Mary and Martha. They had seen the miracles that Jesus had performed. Mary and Martha knew that if Jesus had been there he could have healed Lazarus so he would not have died.

Jesus might have been sorrowful for the death of Lazarus and that would have shown His human side. But if He knew that He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead why would He be so sorrowful as to weep? The verses above tell us that He was angry in spirit and deeply moved. Why is this? Why would He be angry in this case? This can be answered with one word:

UNBELIEF

These people did not fully believe in what Jesus could do. This at first made Him angry then made Him so sad that He wept.

Near the time of Jesus’ crucifixion He wept over Jerusalem because of the unbelief in that city. Many people there had seen what He had done but did not believe He was the Messiah.

Could Jesus be weeping now as he sees what is going on in this world at this time? Does he weep; when we say, “I know the Lord can do thus and so.” But don’t believe he will do it for us? Does he weep when he hears us say that you have to follow certain steps to have him do a miracle for you? We need to believe that Jesus Christ can work and does work in His time and in His way.

May we say, like the father of the demoniac:

Mark 9:24 (HCSB)
24 Immediately the father of the boy cried out, “I do believe! Help my unbelief.”

by Dean W. Masters