The God Who Weeps
Opening Prayer
Lord, whenever I grieve, I know where to find the source of all comfort.
Read John 11:28–44
28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead
38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
“Man of sorrows! What a name for the Son of God, who came” (Philip P. Bliss, 1838–1876). Praise God that Jesus came and experienced all of life for us.
Think Further
Martha returns to call Mary and refers to Jesus as “the Teacher” (28; cf. John 1:38; 13:13). Jesus is not just someone who cares, but the one who might have the answers to the deep questions that
death brings and to the challenges of grief and disappointment. Mary is much more reticent in her grief. She cannot bring herself to come straight to Jesus and, when they do meet, she cannot bring herself to look him in the eye but falls at his feet. Whereas Martha’s words to him evoke words in response, the expression of Mary’s grief evokes his own emotion—he is “deeply moved in spirit” and “troubled” (33), perhaps the strongest emotions attributed to Jesus in the whole New Testament, expressing Jesus’ indignation against the pain that grief brings.
When he asks where the tomb is, the response is simply, “Come and see” (34). It is the same invitation issued by the first disciples (John 1:46); it is our invitation to him, when we bring our own grief and brokenness before him; and now it is John’s invitation to us. Verse 35, “Jesus wept,” is the shortest and most poignant verse in the Bible. It doesn’t just tell us that in Jesus God became fully human and lived life with all of its joys and sorrows. It also tells us that the Creator, the one through whom the world came to be, sees and understands our grief and, in his extraordinary grace, weeps with us.
Perhaps Jesus has been spending those two days in prayer, because his Father has heard him (41). Jesus’ extraordinary command—“Lazarus! Come out!” (43)—receives the extraordinary response “the dead man came out” (44). “He speaks, and, listening to his voice, new life the dead receive” (Charles Wesley, 1707–1788). After compassion comes power; both are needed.
Apply
As you encounter grief and disappointment—whether your own, of friends, or on the news—picture Jesus, standing, weeping. Then picture Jesus commanding new life and hope.
Closing prayer
Lord, Your capability is infinite. As You asked Jeremiah, “Is there
anything too difficult for me?” (32:27). Help me to rely on You.
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