“Jesus wept.” John 11:35
Why? Why did He cry over something He knew He would fix? Because He’s compassionate? Because He cares? Yes, but I think there is more.
Jesus knew these people, He knew their hearts, He knew that Martha was a servant and worked hard. Mary was a learner, sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to every word He said, just taking in His presence. These people were dear to Him, He has a heart bigger than anyone ever made, He literally is love, imagine how much He loved these people. They were His people!
Yet, even though Lazarus died, He knows He has the power to perform a miracle, He knows all things. He knows the ending of this tragic time, He knows there is another side to this suffering. He even told His disciples He was going to raise Him to life, by telling them it will not end in death.
So, I ask again, why did He weep?
To get to a miracle most the time you are in desperate need. Sick with no answers, problems with no solutions, locked doors with no key. In those moments, right before the miracle happens there is a desperation that hurts deep down. There are questions that come up, ‘where is God?’, ‘why is God not showing up?’, ‘does He even care?’, ‘I know He can do something, but will He?’…
I think those are all valid questions. I would assume Mary and Martha were asking similar questions as they watched Lazarus die. I know I would have.
I think Jesus wept, not because of Lazarus, but because of the hurt and pain Mary and Martha had to go through. Those were His people, crying in desperation, crying with questions, crying in their suffering. Even though Jesus knew everything was going to be okay and end in a miracle, I can’t imagine He wants to see us go through the hurt that it takes to get to a miracle. I think He wept because He saw the sacrifice they had to make in sorrow for the glory of God to be revealed.
It was a sacrifice they didn’t choose to make but it was for the benefit of so many more that they couldn’t have even imagined at the time. It is now a miracle that is still talked about 2000 years later! But I can imagine that they weren’t thinking about that at the time. They were just consumed with the pain of loosing their brother, their everything.
They were consumed in the time before the miracle, and I can relate to that.
I can relate to not being able to see another side, to not being able to see how things will turn out, to feeling helpless.
But I can also relate to Martha’s response to Jesus’ question; Jesus asked, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ She responded with a, ‘Yes, Lord.’
She didn’t know what was to come but
she knew who already came, and that was the Messiah.
The pain and suffering we face now, the time before the miracle we go through to get to the miracle, is for a greater purpose that we won’t know till we see our Father face to face.
I bet Jesus didn’t want Mary and Martha to go through the loss of their brother, through the pain of loosing someone they loved dearly. But like Jesus told His disciples, ‘Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe.’ John 11:14-15.
He not only did it for them to believe, but He also did it for others to believe.
Right now, I have questions, I have worries that I know I don’t need to have because I read what Jesus has done and I believe, but man, when you are in the time before the miracle it’s hard to not be consumed by it. To the point where all you can say to God, is,
‘Yes, Lord, I believe.’
Now the waiting time, from the moment standing there with Jesus telling Him you believe, to the actual walking to the miracle site. I don’t know how long the walk was for them, but right now the walk seems forever. One thing I am most grateful for is that I’m walking with the Messiah, I’m walking with the Guy who weeps with me and for me, who knows me more than anyone else, and who is going to bring the miracle to fruition. The Guy who has already won the victory by dying on the cross for you and me, the Prince of Peace, my best Friend.
So again, I say;
Yes, Lord, I believe.
