Why did Jesus Weep Over a Man He Was on His Way to Resurrect?

"Jesus wept" - John 11:35

The shortest verse in the Bible.

Let me tell you the story that leads up to Jesus' tears.

John chapter 11 tells the story, but here is a quick version if you don't know the story.

John 10:39 tells us that Jesus escaped getting arrested by the Jews because they got pissed off at him, as was their custom. Well, chapter 11 of John starts off by telling us that a certain man named Lazarus became ill and was dying. Lazarus was a friend of Jesus' so he ended getting relayed the message.

Jesus responds by saying, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”


Jesus stays where he is at two days, Lazarus dies, and Jesus says to the disciples with him, “Let us go to Judea again.”


Now this is where it gets interesting. 


The disciples respond, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus explains that they can go at night so as to not be spotted. He then tells them that Lazarus has died and he needs to go to him. 


Also note that Jesus says,“Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 


Thomas, one of the disciples, responds perhaps a bit sarcastically, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”


So keep in mind at this point that Jesus is going back to a place where previously, the Jews were trying to arrest and kill him. This is risky for Jesus to do and it could lead to some worse consequences. So Jesus stays outside the city and lets the sisters of Lazarus come to him to talk. Messages are relayed between them for a bit and then one of the sisters comes to Jesus with tons of her Jew friends and says, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”


Then...


"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. And he said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said to him, 'Lord, come and see.' Jesus wept."


Jesus then decides to go into the town, to Lazarus' tomb and raise him from the dead.


What's interesting is immediately after Jesus raises him from the dead, we read the end of John 11, under the title of "The Plot to Kill Jesus." 


We read...


"Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they made plans to put him to death."


Okay, what does all this mean?


I always found it odd that Jesus would weep over a man that he was literally on his way to resurrect, so let me suggest a theory. 


I believe that part of Jesus' sadness was brought on by the simple desperation he saw in Mary. However, I believe there may have been something much greater going on here. Perhaps Jesus wept because he knew, that in saying the words "show me where you laid him," he was committing himself to the cross. Perhaps the reason Jesus wept was because his love for Lazarus truly outranked his love for himself. 


He decided essentially, 


"I'm going to raise Lazarus. But to do so, I must die myself."


And these overwhelming thoughts brought him to tears.


Isn't that what Jesus does with us?

"Yes, I love you and I want to see you live abundantly, I'm going to die so you don't have to."

Perhaps this is a story about God's crazy, scandalous, and beautiful love that brings us dead human beings back to life through the sacrifice of Christ.

Think about it.


Also, looking for some daily words of wisdom or encouragement?

Check Matt Arnett and his videos he makes on facebook. He has some great stuff to say.

https://www.facebook.com/matt.arnett.75?fref=ts