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Making someone cry can be one of the most terrible feelings in the world. For the most part when we make people cry we don’t see it but there are the few occasions when some of us have had the unfortunate opportunity to witness the pain we ensued.

The person’s face flushes and their eyes well up with tears. As the tears begin to roll down their cheeks the pain, hurt and frustration in their eyes is unmistakable. It can result in immediate panic in the second party. As you watch a person come undone you can feel helpless, sorrowful, even scared yourself. I have been on both sides of this situation before and so when I returned to one of the shortest and most poignant versus in the bible recently I began to recall the feelings and emotions that being brought to tears or bringing someone else to them can invoke.

John:11:35 Jesus Wept.

The question most often follows, “Why did Jesus weep?”

Most people interpret his weeping to mean that Jesus was sad for the fact that Lazarus had died (which was the interpretation of the witnesses in verse 36). However, an alternate explanation considers this to be unreasonable, given his full knowledge that he was about to resurrect Lazarus. This view instead argues that every single person whom Jesus talked to in John chapter 11 (his disciples, Martha, Mary, and the Jews) was blinded by their misconceptions of Jesus, their faithlessness and by their failure to recognize that, as he declared in verse 25-26, he himself was "the resurrection and the life". Thus, "he groaned in the spirit and was troubled" (New King James, verse 33). This view holds that he wept because even those who were closest to him were still blinded by their concepts to the fact that he really was "the resurrection and the life"—beyond mere doctrine (verses 25-27)—in spite of all his plain words to them and all the things they had seen him do. A striking point in this view is that the only person in the chapter who had no misconceptions was the dead Lazarus, who promptly obeyed and received life when commanded to. Finally, this view holds that the people there at the time in verses 36-37, just like most readers today, were blinded by their own misconceptions and so did not understand that Jesus was actually weeping for them, not for Lazarus and they didn’t even know it!

A dear friend of mine brought me to tears recently. She doesn’t know it, as it was one of those occasions when I was able to hold back the tears until I was alone but boy did it hurt. It hurt because she is someone I trust and respect so much and in that moment I felt like she neither trusted me nor was listening to what I was trying to communicate. I felt hurt and frustrated because we had always been able to come to some sort of understanding but this time we were unable to. My face was hot, my chest was in knots and I just wanted to throw up. After this passed I got angry and just wanted to avoid her. Although I think the people's behavior brought Jesus to weep, I also think that He wept for them more so than because of them. He wept for them because He so desparetly wanted them to get it and he weeps for me when I don't get it.

Ironically enough this past week I have been reading through John 11 and meditating on Jesus’ tears. How often can I forget and let my conceptions or rather misconceptions blind me? How often am I the cause of Jesus’ tears? I can forget the faith I had at first or simply rely on my own strength. In my every day small decisions I can make Jesus cry and not even recognize it. It hurts when those we love most and believe in don’t believe in us. It hurts when they aren’t listening. How frustrating and hurtful it must have been for Jesus to hear them say,

21"Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

32When 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."

37But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"

And yet, I see that when I get anxious about my future, when I begin to rely on my own strength or get hopeless in the smallest day to day things such as work or relationships, I too am doubting His power. When I let the pain a friend causes embitter me and steal my hope I stop listening to Jesus message and out of my pain end up hurting him.

The words, “The power of the cross” sadly but truly can lose their meaning as the years roll by in my walk with God, but the vivid examples of the real pain it can cause when I forget, that restores their power and shakes me out of the lazy and mundane day to day. Instead of asking, “will this hurt my relationship with God?” it pushes me to ask, “How will this help my relationship with Him?” Because the answer to the first question can be ‘no’ but it does not mean it would equate a resounding ‘yes’ to the second question either.

Another interpretation given of the reason for Jesus crying is that the sadness shown by Jesus may not be for the death of Lazarus, but rather his resurrection. Considering Christ's knowledge of the afterlife and personal (as well as divine) knowledge of Lazarus' character, he may instead have been filled with grief knowing that Lazarus would be taken from the promise of paradise and returned to an imperfect world.

I forget to hope for the eternal more than hoping for the present. I can become critical or anxious about all the things that are not happening right now in this life, in my career, in my church, in my faith, in my relationships and yet I forget that I can not only have life to the full right here but much more importantly I have the promise of eternity and if I can get there no one will be pulling me back! Remembering why Jesus wept helps me to hold on to the power of the cross. It helps me to hope a little longer and fight a little harder, to be more patient against all odds and pain.

John11:40Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

"The Way" from Kevin Pauley

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