Tears

John 11:35 “Jesus wept.” – 7-9-25

Jesus wept. The shortest verse in the bible, just two words. But what deep and impactful words. Jesus wept over the death of his close friend Lazarus. This is a very interesting story and the fact that Jesus wept has deep implications for us. That is especially true in that I write this shortly after the horrible flooding in Texas with over 100 deaths, many from a children’s Christian Bible Camp. Jesus is not the only one to weep and no doubt Jesus is weeping for and with the families of those who lost loved ones in that terrible flood.

To me, these words, this truth that Jesus wept over the death of His friend, is important for us as we live and walk out our life in a very broken world. People are constantly dying from one thing or another. Others are experiencing various hardships from broken bodies to broken relationships, all things that cause us great pain. And pain makes life hard.

Life was hard for Jesus too. We may think that because He was God, His life didn’t have much in the way of hardships, other than his death of course, but even that, He knew was coming and was preparing for since eternity past. But the life of Jesus had plenty of hardships.

Just look at some of the things Jesus endured. He endured the death of His earthly father Joseph. We don’t know when or how Joseph died, but since he is not mentioned in the New Testament after Jesus was 12, he must have died somewhere between then and when Jesus started His ministry at about 30. Then too, Jesus would have known the deaths of other friends and family members. No one lives to the age of 30, especially in those times, without seeing many people close to you die. Death is a constant in this life and with that go all the reasons for someone dying. Jesus would have seen a lot of suffering and pain in those He knew and loved. Jesus also knew about the death of His relative John the Baptist. We are told that on the day Jesus heard about John’s death, Jesus tried to get away and be alone but was constantly bombarded by ministry needs until the evening when He was finally able to get away and spend time in prayer. That story is in Matthew 14.

All this to say, Jesus knew pain and suffering of the heart. He knew grief.

Knowing that Jesus, the Son of God, wept gives my heart strength and comfort. If God can be brought to tears, then it is not a sign of weakness that I am sometimes brought to tears. If God can cry, I am in good company when I cry. If God’s heart hurts over the pain, suffering and death of someone, then it is OK, even good, that my heart hurts over those things too.

And, if Jesus could cry, then it also seems to fit that He could use and maybe even need, someone else to comfort Him. In the story of Lazarus’ death, Jesus was with his two sisters, Mary and Martha, both separately and in a group. And in that, they comforted one another. It may seem that only Jesus gives comfort, that God doesn’t need the comfort that others can give. But I see this differently, I see both Mary and Martha, Lazarus’ sisters, trying to comfort Jesus. After all, they had been with Lazarus when he died and that was four days ago. They had many people come to their house with love and food and give them comfort. So, when Jesus showed up and found out that Lazarus had died, they came to share that same comfort with Him. And I am sure; He needed and welcomed their attempts to comfort Him.

We are in good company when we cry and hurt, and we need to both give and receive comfort and some of that comes just by being with those who hurt. Comfort one another.

Pastor Gary.