The Weeping Jesus

John 11:35 – Jesus wept.

     Jesus is the perfect picture of a man created in the image of God and He is the only man who has never lost his God-given identity and purpose. He represents all that the Father God originally intended for us.  He came to live a life before us and exemplify the heart of the Father God. As this man-of-all-men stood before the grave of His dear friend, Lazarus, He wept.

    Jesus wept because death was never part of the plan of God; it was, and still is, an enemy, a bully and an intruder into the life of mankind. Death and all that is associated with it is foreign to God, it is not in His heart or His plan. God is light and in Him, there is no darkness and He is also life and in Him, there is no death.

    Jesus wept because of His friend. He wept because of Mary and Martha. He wept because the loss of a loved one and the heavy sorrow that comes with it was never His heart for us. Just as any good parent does not want their child to suffer sorrow and heartache, so Jesus felt the loss of Lazarus and his family, and He felt the collective loss of all humanity.

    Jesus wept for Lazarus because he had been taken much too soon. He wept because the religious culture had taught them that God was the one who had taken him. Our gracious Father has been lied about, He has been misrepresented and slandered throughout the centuries. He does not take; He is the supreme giver. He does not need to kill people so that He can have them in Heaven with Him; wouldn’t that be considered extremely selfish? Let it be said with great emphasis and constant repetition; He is not the taker. He does not take, however, He does receive those that leave. God is not the author of death!

    Jesus wept because of humanity’s loss of faith; they could not believe in the power of His resurrection life. They could not see beyond what their senses were telling them. They could not see how God could answer this situation. They could not see past the horizon of their own knowledge; they were imprisoned in their hopelessness and because of who He is, our compassionate Christ shed tears for them.

    Jesus wept because mankind had lost their identity and purpose for living. The people of Earth have been lied to and the lie has brought untold misunderstanding, it has distorted our once-clear vision. Confusion and despair, indeed, the death of hope has brought us to the brink of self-destruction.

    Jesus wept because He wasn’t afraid to weep; He wasn’t ashamed of His emotions and deep feelings. He wept because He felt the sting of God’s plan gone awry. He wept because He came to bear the burden of all men; He identified so keenly with the universal human struggle. He wept because things were not as they should be, and He longed to put things right. He wept because He was and still is the Intercessor who pleads with God for lost and downtrodden souls.

    Jesus is the ultimate Man and so all who follow Him will also follow Him in His weeping over all of mankind. His weeping was a prayer and His tears were a plea; it was a way of drawing close to the sufferer and it was a wordless appeal to the Father’s heart. We must follow Him in this tearful compassion for others.

    Oh, that the heart of Jesus would manifest through us in weeping, groaning, pleading and claiming. Weeping for the wayward ones, groaning over the destruction of precious lives, pleading the merits of the sacrifice of Christ and claiming the fulfilment of the promises of God.

    Jesus wept and the Father heard. Jesus wept and the Father responded.  Jesus wept and Martha hoped, Mary trusted and Lazarus rose. Jesus wept!