John 11:35 JESUS WEPT .... Undoubtedly the shortest scripture in the bible. I remember using it many times as a child as a memory verse for Sunday School. Used it many times defending the right for men to shed tears, which my father saw as a weakness, I saw as a revelation of love.
What amazes me sometimes is that when asked some folks don't know why Jesus Wept.....let's read the scripture before and after the famous verse....
John 11:30-40 Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him.
The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there.
Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,
And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.
Jesus wept.
Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!
And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?
Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.
Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?
The whole of the story is based on faith.....undeniable faith, faith that outlast fear and doubt, faith that endures even the grave, so we ask ourselves what it is that has brought our Lord and Savior to TEARS? Jesus saw the lack of faith in the hearts of those who were gathered together at the loss of poor Ol' Lazarus .... Mary's lack was based on "Where is Jesus when you need Him?" Many of us fall into this area, especially when we are engrossed in such suffering as the loss of a loved one, does this mean we don't believe? No, it simply means we must work our faith and grow into it, rather then to use it as a crutch. This leads us to the second point I would like to make, in verse 32..." he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled " was this a show of mutual pain ans sorrow? No, Jesus saw into the hearts of those who were there, and what He saw hurt Him inside deeply ... simply the lack of true Faith, this time shown by these mourners based on " emotions gone wild " we just cannot allow our emotions over ride our faith, I have preached many times DON'T COME TO THE ALTAR OUT OF FEAR OR SORROW BUT OUT OF FAITH THE RESULTS WILL AMAZE YOU. Can you imagine what Jesus was thinking, "When are they gonna get it Father?"
Now look at the response to the tears shed by Jesus ... Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him! Undoubtedly Jesus loved Lazarus, but was this the case of His tears, after seeing the scriptures above this verse you are beginning to see aren't you the real reasoning behind those tears.... He obviously felt the pain those surrounding felt, but Pain Must Not Override Our Faith. Jesus' tears were a sign of Hope, because He knew that the moment would come when man would truly know Faith, realizing that Blind Faith can lead them to the Glory of God.
Wow, what a devotional.....and it gets better, no sooner then the Jews spit those words out of their mouth, about how much Jesus must have loved poor Lazarus, then the words that cut Jesus to the center of His heart were spoken, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? Man, how many times have we said something near to these words? Couldn't the God who made everything have saved those folks on 9-11? Or what about couldn't the God who took out the whole population with the exception of Noah and his family because to sin and rebellion, take out Cancer or Heart Disease? Been there done that, again this caused Jesus to "Groan" within himself, why is it man has to see to believe? Now we begin to see .... and the cap is ....Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? all it takes for us to see the Glory of God, is to simply believe, without mixing all those other things into it, patience is hard, timing is harder, but with true Faith, we can overcome, with the faith that Jesus is referring to, we can move mountains of doubt and fear, we can withstand the darts of the flesh, and the sting of death, so I leave you with this thought, "When are they gonna get it Father?"
