The Good News - Table of Contents
| Jesus Wept |
| John 11:1-44 |
by David A. DePra |
| Lazarus was sick. And Mary and Martha sent for Jesus |
| so that He could come and heal him. But when Jesus heard |
| that Lazarus was sick, He did not go to him. Instead, He stayed |
| where He was another two days. He also said, "This sickness |
| is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of |
| God might be glorified thereby." (John 11:4) Clearly, Jesus |
| wasn't the least bit concerned about this situation. He |
| fully intended to take His time getting to Lazarus. |
| Have you ever felt as if God just HAD to act or you'd die? |
| Yet despite your anxiousness, God seems so indifferent. He |
| seems like He is treating you the way He treated Lazarus in |
| this passage. |
| After two days, Jesus decided to go to Lazarus, which |
| according to 11:17, would be another two days journey. But |
| amazingly, Jesus knew Lazarus was already dead. He said, |
| "I'm glad for your sakes I was not there, to the intent you |
| may believe." The more we read on in this passage, the more |
| we realize that God is not shocked or suprised by anything |
| that is happening. He has everything fully under control. |
| Jesus arrives to great weeping among those who loved |
| Lazarus. But that is not all. Martha actually expresses |
| dissappointment with Jesus. She basically says, "Why didn't |
| you come when we sent for You? If you had come, Lazarus |
| wouldn't have died. Now it's too late." (11:21) |
| Jesus tried to tell her what He was about to do. He said, |
| "Your brother is going to rise from the dead." (11:23) Martha |
| had not considered the possibility that Jesus was talking about |
| now. She thought He as referring to the resurrection yet |
| to come for all believers. So she said, "I know he'll rise |
| on the last day." (11:24) |
| Have you ever been dissappointed with God? Or thought |
| that He let you down? Or felt as if He was indifferent to your |
| crys for help? Have you ever thought, not to God's face, but |
| in the back of your mind, that God could have done |
| more; could have been more faithful to you? |
| Most Christians face these issues at one time or another. |
| But we tend to hide these feelings where we think God can't |
| see or hear them. Yet He does see and hear them. And it |
| might surprise us to find out how He reacts to them. We |
| will discover that in this passage. |
| Jesus told Martha that He wasn't talking about a |
| resurrection yet to come. He said, "I AM THE RESURRECTION |
| AND THE LIFE." Jesus was telling her that He is the resurrection |
| NOW -- not just someday. And He was about to prove it. |
| When Jesus saw how His friends reacted to His late |
| arrival, He was troubled. Indeed, Jesus wept. (11:33-35) |
| Why did Jesus weep? Was it because His good friend |
| Lazarus had died? No. For He already knew He was going to |
| raise Lazarus from the dead. Jesus wept because of the |
| unbelief He saw in those who doubted Him. He wept for |
| them because their condition kept them from experiencing |
| Truth and freedom. He wept for them because He wanted |
| them to know Him and they were proving they didn't. |
| Even the Jews thought that Jesus was weeping because His |
| friend had died. Their tone indicates that they thought Jesus was |
| experiencing failure. They as much as said, "Well, I guess He has |
| met His match. He opened the eyes of the blind, but couldn't keep |
| this man from dying." (11:37) |
| Interestingly, not even these Jews made room for the possibility |
| that Jesus could raise the dead. Just like Martha, they focused on |
| Jesus' failure to keep Lazarus alive. Now that Lazarus had died, |
| they seemed to think all was lost, and that it was too late to do |
| anything about it. |
| It is so easy to feel this way in life. All of the missed chances. |
| All of the wasted years. It's too late. All is lost. But no. It is |
| never too late. And there is no sin, no death, no problem which |
| the Redemption of Jesus Christ cannot redeem. |
| Don't misunderstand. There will be physical consequences |
| for our choices in this life, in the natural realm. Many of them God |
| will not choose to remove. But spiritually, there is no sin so deep |
| that the Redemption cannot reach. That means full restoration, |
| without any loss, without any record of it in the mind of God. We |
| need to believe this, and to rest in it through Christ. |
| Lazarus had been dead four days and the stone had been |
| put firmly in place. Yet Jesus, despite all of the lack of faith which |
| surrounded Him, went ahead and raised Lazarus from the dead. |
| He IS the resurrection and the life. Everything He touches is |
| eternally quickened unto God. |
| We see from this story many things, not the least of which is |
| the heart of God towards all of our shortcomings and lack of |
| faith. We don't see a God who is angry with us, or ready to |
| punish us because we fail Him. No. We see one who cries and |
| weeps because He so wants to share His love with us, and yet |
| knows that He cannot YET do so to a full extent. We are too bound |
| by the natural. Presently, too prone to unbelief. |
| This is reminescent of the time Joseph wanted to reveal |
| himself to his brothers, but could not. It nearly killed him to have |
| to keep his identity from them. It was because he loved them, and |
| wanted to embrace them. But he had to wait. So it is with the |
| Lord. He wants us to know Him and to love Him. But so often we |
| are blind to Him; to His intentions towards us. Sometimes we even |
| secretly accuse Him of being indifferent to us. So God waits. |
| God is the most sensitive being in existance. Rather than be |
| callous to us, He feels as we feel. That is evermore so since |
| Jesus became one of us. He is able to be touched by the feeling |
| of OUR infirmities. When we hurt, we can be sure a part of Him |
| hurts too. And even when WE are callous, we can be sure that |
| He is weeping over those things we are too blind to see. |
| God is love. Agape. True agape love can be described in many |
| ways. But this definition seems to hit the nail on the head: |
Agape love is the heart attitude of seeking God's highest |
for the individual loved, regardless of personal cost to myself, |
or to them. |
| This was the continual attitude Jesus Christ had towards those |
| around Him. And even when they failed Him, misunderstood Him, |
| indeed, even crucified Him, He nevertheless stood firm in God's |
| Highest for them. This the attitude He has towards us today. |