We wept after we realized that my spouse, age 31, had most cancers. Greater than wept – we wailed.
When my expensive pal and brother in Christ, Brian, died of colon most cancers at 42, abandoning his lovely household, I had no phrases.
When my sister misplaced her battle with abdomen most cancers at 51, the grief overwhelmed me. I led her memorial service — large mistake. Standing in entrance of our household and her mates, I fully misplaced it.
“Jesus wept” is expensive to me as a result of within the midst of sorrow, I have to know that Jesus’ coronary heart breaks too. John 11 looks like a cryfest. Tears circulation from each nook: Mary is weeping, Martha is pleading, their mates and neighbors are mourning. Lazarus has been lifeless for 4 days (John 11:17). That’s 4 days of absence and questions: Why didn’t Jesus come?
When he lastly arrives, Martha meets him with a coronary heart torn between ache and hope: “Lord, in the event you had been right here, my brother wouldn’t have died. However even now I do know that no matter you ask from God, God gives you” (John 11:21–22).
This second of Jesus weeping is easy but life-giving. It’s the shortest verse in Scripture, but it surely holds a few of the deepest theology. Right here, we see the center of our Savior in real sorrow, becoming a member of his mates of their grief (John 11:33–35).
Generally, we mistakenly consider that robust religion means suppressing sorrow. We worry tears may counsel weak belief and an absence of hope in Christ. But right here stands Jesus – absolutely divine, absolutely conscious of the miracle He was about to carry out – overtly weeping. His tears remind us that grief shouldn’t be unspiritual. It’s deeply human. Jesus skilled it firsthand, giving us permission to mourn with out disgrace.
Jesus doesn’t reply to Mary and Martha’s grief with stoicism or theological diatribes. As a substitute, he joins their sorrow. Jesus weeps as a result of we weep. He’s deeply moved by our ache (John 11:33). This reveals a lovely fact: our God shouldn’t be detached to our struggling. “The Lord is close to to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).
However Jesus’ tears don’t simply validate our grief; they level us towards eternal hope. Whilst Jesus wept, he knew Lazarus would quickly rise (John 11:23, 43–44). Grief and hope coexist within the presence of Jesus. His sorrow was actual, however so was his energy to beat dying. He declares to Martha, “I’m the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). Jesus doesn’t get rid of sorrow. He invitations us, in our sorrow, to relaxation in him, the One who conquers dying and renews life.
This passage invitations us into genuine moments with God. We wouldn’t have to strategy prayer formally or conceal behind non secular bravado. Similar to Jesus overtly expressed sorrow, we can also convey our uncooked and trustworthy feelings to God.
As the author to the Hebrews put it, “For we wouldn’t have a excessive priest who’s unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, however one who in each respect has been tempted as we’re, but with out sin. Allow us to then with confidence draw close to to the throne of grace, that we could obtain mercy and discover grace to assist in time of want” (Hebrews 4:15–16).
Brief prayers, determined prayers – even prayers pleading for issues we must always not – whispered by means of tears, attain the center of Jesus simply as powerfully as prolonged ones. Generally, all we are able to do is place ourselves able to listen to God reply in a delicate whisper as a result of something louder may overwhelm us fully.
If you end up struggling to hope in sorrow, let God’s whispers from his Phrase be your information. Pray by means of the psalms of lament, passages the place others have given voice to their deepest ache (e.g., Psalms 6, 13, 42, 51). God doesn’t require excellent prayers; he invitations trustworthy hearts. “Belief in him always, O individuals; pour out your coronary heart earlier than him; God is a refuge for us” (Psalm 62:8).
Jesus additionally calls us into deeper empathy with each other. Romans 12:15 instructs us to “weep with those that weep.” True discipleship means sharing one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2). The best ministry we are able to provide shouldn’t be fixing somebody’s ache however merely sitting with them, being current, and sharing their tears.
I skilled this in the course of the months spent sitting beside my spouse in our new hospital dwelling. Associates quietly sat alongside us, their tears, laughter, friendship, and even silence lifting our burdens as we longed for the miracle that may are available in God’s timing. Simply as Christ enters into our sorrow we’re known as to embody his compassion by coming into the ache of others whereas providing the identical consolation he first gave us (2 Corinthians 1:3–4).
Finally, Jesus’ tears remind us that our Savior not solely shares our sorrow however has triumphed over it. Lazarus’s resurrection foreshadows Jesus’ personal resurrection and ours too (1 Corinthians 15:20–22). Our tears right this moment, although actual and heavy, wouldn’t have the ultimate say. They level ahead to the day when Christ will wipe each tear from our eyes (Revelation 21:4). Lazarus’ resurrection foreshadows not solely Jesus’ personal resurrection but in addition ours.
As followers of Christ, we stay within the pressure of tears and triumph, grief and hope. “For this gentle momentary affliction is getting ready for us an everlasting weight of glory past all comparability, as we glance to not the issues which might be seen however to the issues which might be unseen. For the issues which might be seen are transient, however the issues which might be unseen are everlasting” (2 Corinthians 4:17–18).
If you’re grieving right this moment bear in mind this: Jesus weeps with you. He meets you in your tears and factors you in the direction of a future hope. Relaxation in his presence realizing your sorrow is known and your future safe within the palms of the One who conquered dying and calls you to life eternal (John 16:33, 1 Thessalonians 4:13–14).
Travis Marsh serves as lead pastor of Canyon Creek Presbyterian Church in San Ramon, California.
