Jesus Wept

John 11:1-36

¹Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ²It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. ³So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” ⁴But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

⁵Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. ⁷Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” ⁸The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” ⁹Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. ¹⁰But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” ¹¹After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” ¹²The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” ¹³Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. ¹⁴Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, ¹⁵and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” ¹⁶So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

¹⁷Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, ¹⁹and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. ²⁰So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. ²¹Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²²But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” ²³Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, ²⁶and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

²⁸When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. ³⁰Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. ³¹When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³²Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. ³⁴And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵Jesus wept. ³⁶So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” ³⁷But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

Now we come to one of the most dramatic events in the ministry of Jesus. He has healed people, fed people, controlled the weather, and cast out demons. He has even raised a few people from the dead – in private situations. (Remember that fact, because it’s important.) This resurrection is very public, and the Pharisees have had it. They want Him gone. At this point Jesus is remaining in Galilee to stay out of the limelight. Word comes to Jesus and the disciples that Lazarus, a close personal, friend is gravely ill. Of course Lazarus’ sisters turn to Jesus for help. The problem is that Mary, Martha, and Lazarus live in Bethany which is just two miles from Jerusalem – enemy territory. But, Jesus’ time has almost come and so He agrees to go and help. But oddly, He waits for a few days before He answers their call.

And there it is. Jesus waits a few days to answer their call. My mind automatically goes to the numerous times I have cried out for help only to have God wait “a few days” (or months, or years!) to help me out of the problem. As I have mentioned before – I hate to wait. If you know someone who likes to wait I would like to meet them for I clearly have a few things to learn about that. Jesus is working His perfect plan and a part of that plan is that Lazarus should die. He waits just long enough for that death to occur and for Lazarus to be buried. Then the timing is right for Jesus to enter into the drama. By the time Jesus arrives in Bethany, Lazarus has been dead for four days. There were some sects of Judaism that believed the “spirit” hovered around the body for 3 days just in case it was possible to return to the body. For Lazarus, that time had come and gone – even if that superstition were true, which it is not.

Once again, just as with the man born blind, Jesus declares that there is a divine purpose for this tragedy to take place.

It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it. (vs. 4)

When we are Christ-followers, our lives are designed to bring glory to God. Lazarus’ death brings an opportunity for Jesus to receive the glory due His name because He alone has power over death, which He will prove again a few weeks later with His own resurrection. Thomas, who has observed the troubles that Jesus is having with the Pharisees, knows what’s in store for the whole group if they return to Jerusalem. The Pharisees aren’t going to give up. So he voices what the rest of the disciples are probably thinking, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Thomas doesn’t know how the story will end but he has serious concerns about the future. He still doesn’t understand the glorification of God through the struggles of God’s people. Frankly, sometimes I don’t either. What we do have is trust that God has all things well in hand (back to living in the palm of God’s hand again!) and even in struggle, God’s good and gracious purposes are met.

Martha is sometimes maligned a bit by students of the Bible because she chooses to get dinner on the table rather than sit at the feet of Jesus like her sister, Mary. (See Luke 10:38ff) But in our reading for today in regard to the tragedy surrounding her brother, Lazarus, Martha is acquitted. Her statement of faith is truly worthy of meditation. In the midst of her tragedy, she doesn’t care about the ‘long view’ of life. She’s concerned with right here, right now. Tragedy does that to all of us. In the midst of pain, we live in the moment.

Jesus times these events out perfectly. He has been informed that Lazarus is in critical condition. He will not recover. After hearing this news, Jesus waits until Lazarus has been in the tomb for four days to make His appearance. Martha is a take-charge type of woman. She doesn’t wait for Jesus to come to her, she heads out to meet Him on the road as soon as she hears that He is in the area. I totally get Martha. She has asked the only person she knows who can help her to come and save her brother. Jesus delays! That delay has resulted in Lazarus' death. If only Jesus had done as she asked in the first place this whole situation could have turned out differently. Her honesty with the Lord is encouraging. Even as Jesus promises that Lazarus will rise again she is a little terse with Him. “Yes, yes. I know he’ll rise on the last day. That isn’t what I’m looking for here. What can you do for me today?” [Translation according to Carolyn.] Then Jesus speaks the words that have been quoted millions of times since He first said them.

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”

Then Martha proclaims her faith in the Son of God with great conviction. Jesus moves the conversation away from the immediate problem of Lazarus’ death and brings it home to Martha personally. “What do you believe?” Martha’s response is perfect and hopefully rings through our hearts as well.

“Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

Martha is one of the first people to express this faith so adamantly in the Gospel narrative. This woman knows exactly who Jesus is and she believes in Him as Her Savior. I think Martha is an intelligent woman. She certainly knew her Old Testament history, understood that she was awaiting the promised Messiah, and knew with clarity that she was speaking to Him on that road. Her hope was found in Him alone. But now she needs help with an immediate problem. Because Jesus is her final hope, He can also be trusted with her immediate problem, she goes back home to await His action. Her faith is more than admirable.

In the midst of our pain, are we able to step away from ourselves enough to see God’s action in our lives? It’s tough to do but it’s always a great skill to have at our disposal. It goes right back to placing ourselves in the Hand of God. I think that Martha walked away from that conversation with calm in her heart. She had handed the problem over to Jesus and was just waiting to see what He would do. Even take-charge people can surrender themselves into Jesus’ control. Tragedy doesn’t have to own us. We can instead choose to reside in the hand of God and let Him deal with the struggle.