The transcript of the service is below.
John 11:17-35
17 On His arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.18 Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem,19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother.20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet Him, but Mary stayed at home.
21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if You had been here, my brother would not have died.22 But I know that even now God will give You whatever You ask.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know He will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me will live, even though they die;26 and whoever lives by believing in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
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.
JOHN 11:17-35 LISTEN TO JESUS WEEP
Springford Baptist Church: March 14, 2021.
“Jesus wept.”(vs. 36) This is the shortest verse in the Bible.
How do we respond to this description of Jesus weeping? If we place ourselves there in the account of what happened and are standing at the tomb of Jesus’ friend Lazarus and listening as Jesus cries, what are our thoughts?
Emotion expressed when someone has experienced the death of a loved one is no surprise to us. We have cried when we have said goodbye to someone we love. We have been with others who have been touched by grief and sadness and have seen and heard them cry.
Tears are a way for us as human beings to release deep feelings. The fact that Jesus cries is an indication of His humanity. Jesus is with us when we are crying and He understands our tears. More than understanding our tears, Jesus cares and wants to bring us comfort.
We often struggle to find words of comfort when someone is sad and overcome with grief. Somehow, we want to say something to relieve their heartache and to bring them relief.
Think about a young child crying and how we would immediately gather that child up in our arms and hold them and assure them that things will be okay and they will be okay.
Our accompaniment of Jesus on His way to the cross finds us this week encountering a remarkable situation that actually anticipates the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection, being raised back to life. Even as God has the power to bring Lazarus back to life after 4 days, we will witness again in our celebration of Easter that God has the power to bring Jesus back to life on the 3rd day.
Knowing that Lazarus will be brought back to life, still Jesus weeps. Why?
Let’s examine this Scripture together and listen for what God wants to teach us here.
Jesus had received word that His friend Lazarus was sick. This message was sent by Lazarus’s sisters Mary and Martha. The message they send is this, “Lord the one You love is sick.” (John 11:3).
The expectation was that Jesus would come immediately, but He did not. Jesus knew that it was part of God’s plan for Lazarus to die and that as a result of Jesus raising Lazarus back to life, many people would come to believe that Jesus really is the Son of God.
When Jesus and His disciples arrive in Bethany and Martha comes to meet Jesus her first words are, “Lord, if You had been here my brother would not have died.” (vs. 21)
These are the exact same words that come from her sister Mary’s lips a short time later when she comes out to see Jesus: “Lord, if You had been here my brother would not have died.” (vs.32b)
How difficult for Jesus who loves these friends so much to hear this. They do not understand God’s plan. They expected Jesus to come and to heal their brother. How would Jesus not be with them in their time of greatest need?
There is profound hope in the words of Jesus to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me will live, even though they die;26 and whoever lives by believing in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” (vs.25)
Martha responds, “Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
Martha does believe that Jesus is God’s own Son, but she has not yet seen with her own eyes that Jesus, God’s Son has the power to raise someone back to life who has been dead.
Intense grief comes to Martha and Mary and to the Jews weeping with them because their consistent experience has been that death is the end of the story. They weep for the separation and the heartache of saying goodbye to someone they love.
Another’s grief always reminds us of our own grief and the pain of saying goodbye in this lifetime. We want to comfort someone else in their sorrow. What can we say? What can we do?
We are told, ‘When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. (vs.33)
Jesus’ heart is touched by their grief. Jesus’ heart is touched by our grief.
Jesus is with us when we weep at the graveside of a loved one and Jesus knows there is so much more to the story. Separation comes for a time, but because Jesus is the resurrection and the life, those who die believing in Him will live.
Jesus was willing to go the cross to secure this amazing promise of everlasting life for us.
Those who have seen His miracles and those who weeping there at Lazarus’ tomb do not yet understand all that Jesus has come to accomplish.
Our journey of listening to Jesus and LISTENING FOR GOD as Jesus’ steps are taking Him to the cross, give us this incredible opportunity to hear and to understand more fully the miracle of the cross.
Jesus does have the power to raise Lazarus back to life (vss. 38-44) and that is just what He does.
Death does not have the last word!
Jesus knows this truth and He knows that this truth will be sealed for all who will believe when He will be brought back to life from the dead.
But for now, as Jesus is there at Lazarus’ tomb, He weeps. He weeps for the sorrow of His friends and he weeps for His own sorrow that death carries such heavy pain of separation.
Only as we turn to Jesus for comfort, can we receive the life giving hope that our tears of grief will be wiped away. We consider the promise of heaven recorded in Revelation 21:4: “He (God) will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Jesus’ willingness to go to the cross for us signals the death of death. When Jesus wept and when we weep it is because we still experience the pain of death. But that will not always be. Listen to Jesus weep and know that His love for us is so immense that He was willing to do what was necessary to wipe every tear from our eyes and to bring us to live in an eternal place of peace and comfort called heaven.
Jesus knows what to say and what to do when we are crying. He has felt grief and He feels our grief and speaks His words of comfort, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me.” (John 14:1)