Jesus Wept - John 11:35

The apostle John wrote how Martha the sister of Lazarus left Jesus and, “went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calls for you. As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him. Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him. The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goes unto the grave to weep there. Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother had not died. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, And said, Where have you laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see”, and in chapter eleven and verse thirty-five of his book John shared how, “Jesus wept” where we read:

Jesus wept.

The verse reads, “Jesus wept.” John began with the word, “Jesus” which means “the Son of God, the Savior of mankind and God incarnate whose name means Jehovah is Salvation” “wept” or “shed tears”. John shared how “Jesus” actually “shed tears” over the situation that was before Him.

When we meditate upon John's words in this verse, we discover the shortest verse in the English translation of the Bible, and the content is worth contemplation and reflection. Many people guess the reason why Jesus was “weeping” at Lazarus' grave. Some say, He was sad because His friend died. Other say it was because “death” was the final earthly physical destination for all people. Still others believe Jesus was “crying” because the people did not understand His power over death, and although He was the Messiah and Christ standing before them, they did not believe. We are not certain “why” Jesus shed tears, but we know this, He did. This was indeed a demonstration of His compassion and care for the situations and conditions of mankind, and those who examine His life will find Him a loving, caring and sympathetic “Savior” who desires to be the “Lord” of all who surrender to Him.

Next time John shares how the Jews say, “behold how he loved him”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".