Jesus wept.~John 11:35

I believe that this is the shortest verse in the bible. And the story around it is very interesting.

It is the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead.

When Jesus first hears that Lazarus is sick, He doesn’t seem to be all that concerned over it.

“This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.”~vs 4

And then in verse six:

So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was.~vs 6

So at this point it looks like Jesus knew that Lazarus was going to die, and that He knew He was going to raise him up again. This is confirmed in verse eleven when Jesus says:

“Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep.”~vs 11

Then, after Jesus arrives at the place Lazarus died, He meets with Martha…

“Your brother will rise again”~vs 23… “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”~vs 25-26

So at this point we may be thinking that Jesus is not at all bothered by Lazarus’s death, and that He is looking forward to showing everyone His power and glory, and that everything is good because of the wonderful miracle He is about to do.

But then we get down to verse thirty three…

When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”~vs33-34

Jesus wept.

So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him!”~vs 36

So why was Jesus so upset, when He knew that Lazarus was going to die, but also knew that He was going to use Lazarus’s death as a way to show His power and glory by raising him from the dead?

Because Jesus hates sickness and He hates death. Because Jesus does not make bad things happen so that He can do good things. Because, even though He knows beforehand that He is going to fix the problem, He is still heartbroken about the problem in the first place.

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.~1 John 1:5