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Dec 16, 2023 06:00am

Jesus Wept; So Can You

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Growing up, I attended Wednesday night kids programs centered around memorizing Scripture. Though many teachers made a valiant effort, including but not limited to the promise of candy, as a young person I struggled to commit Scripture to verbatim memory.

As I reflect back, there is one Scripture I had success in memorizing and have not forgotten:
“Jesus wept.” – John 11:35

For obvious reasons, this particular verse was easier than others to commit to mental memory.

As I’ve gotten older, I find many Christians have successfully stored this verse up in their head, but not in their heart.

Being the shortest verse in the Bible, John 11:35 is not only easy to memorize, but easy to skip over, especially in its context.

Prior to this verse, we read an account of the death of Lararus. A man who was a brother to both Mary and Martha and a friend to Jesus.

If you’ve read the rest of the story, you know it ends with Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead–a wonderful miracle and a picture of what is to come when Jesus rises from the dead. This is the focal point in most messages preached about this passage.

This is not a wrong focal point as the resurrection of Jesus is where our hope lies. However, we know that all Scripture has been given for our instruction and endurance that we may have hope.

This leads me to ask, “Why did the Holy Spirit lead the writer to include John 11:35 on its own? It’s as if it was written as an intentional pause for us, the readers.

As I mentioned earlier, Lazarus was not only a brother of Mary and Martha, but a friend of Jesus. Weeping at his death shows us that Jesus not only cried, but grieved.

Grief is a hard topic, Christian or not. In my experience as a grieving Christian, I have found that we often quickly feel less spiritual if we are sad, cry, or go through a process of grieving. In order to circumvent the resulting “ feeling less than spiritual” guilt, we are quick to quote verses like James 1:2 where we are instructed to, “count it all joy” when facing trials or Romans 8:28 where we are reminded that, “God works all things together for the good of those that love him.”

Though these verses are absolutely true and can be used as a source of encouragement for us, we must be careful to not use them as a mask to our own needy heart or use them to dismiss the pain of others.

There are many things in this life that bring grief: of course the loss through death, but also the loss of a relationship, loss of health or season of life, etc.

To simply slap on a happy face and spout a verse without ever shedding a tear and or grieving is negligent and short-sighted. Yet, this is an expectation we often have for ourselves and others.

Isaiah 53 is a famous prophecy about Jesus in which he is described as a “man of sorrow acquainted with grief.” We often forget this description when thinking and studying about Jesus and simply shift our attention to His highlight reel.

A study I’ve completed a couple of times now is called Knowing Him: a study on the life of Jesus Christ in chronological order. The study highlights the miracles Christ did and things He taught, but also brings attention to Christ as a person, the humanity of Christ experiencing things like disappointment, sadness, rejection, and grief.

I love this study because it forces me to think about a side of Christ Christians sometimes dismiss. Before completing this study, I, like many Christians, put Jesus in a spiritual bubble and assumed He never struggled like you and me. However, that is far from the truth.

Jesus is described as a foreigner and or alien to his own family. A person the drunks wrote songs about. (Psalm 69:8-12)

Jesus’ cousin, best friend, and forerunner, John the Baptist is beheaded. Jesus seeks to be alone. (Matthew 14:13)

Jesus weeps over Jerusalem due to their rejection of the Word/spiritual truth revealed to them and the resulting destruction that is to come upon them. (Luke 19:41-44)

Jesus cries out to God in the garden of Gethsemane asking God to take the cup from Him, nevertheless, God’s will be done. (Luke 22:39-46)

In many things, Christian’s believe and firmly hold to the idea that Christ is our example, however, we sometimes feel as if grief is the exception.

While it is true that Jesus is our hope, and is the only source of true comfort in our time of need, it is also okay if we have to physically cry out to our Only Hope.

If you’re caught in the throws of navigating your own grief, I encourage you to look to Jesus the Author and Finisher of your faith, the great high priest who can and desires to empathize with and hold you through your tears, confusion and pain.

If you know someone who is grieving, I encourage you to do as Romans 12:15 instructs us, “mourn with those who mourn.”

If that “feeling less than spiritual guilt” pops up remember: Jesus wept; so can you.