So, why did Jesus weep over Lazarus?
It’s odd, is it not?
I mean, considering what came next.
Here is the passage again just for reference.
John 11:32-44:
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.
“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?”
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.”
I never caught this before, but it makes you wonder.
He wept right before he gave him life again.
And didn’t he know he was going to do that?
It’s almost like being upset about not having X – on your way to get X.
Or is it?
Maybe it was the humanity of it all, the way a friend can hurt for a friend, or a parent cries with their child in empathy and love.
Why the tears? Why the heartache? He knew He was going to raise Lazarus from the grave. I suspect like the mother clutching her child, Jesus must have wondered, How do I explain to them that when they reach their destination, the pain will be gone?
-Ravi Zacharias and Vince Vitale, Why Suffering?