Jesus Wept

John 11:1–35

Mary and Martha had sent word to Jesus that their brother Lazarus was sick. They knew Jesus loved him. They knew Jesus could heal him. But Jesus didn’t arrive when they expected Him to, and by the time He reached Bethany, Lazarus had been in the tomb four days. Both sisters eventually said essentially the same thing to Him: “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Have you ever felt that? Jesus, where were You? You could have stopped this. You could have changed this. Why didn’t You come when I asked? What’s amazing is that Jesus never scolded them for bringing those emotions to Him. He already knew exactly what He was about to do, but when He saw Mary crying and the people around her grieving, something incredible happened: “Jesus wept.”

Those may be two of the most comforting words in the Bible. Jesus knew resurrection was only moments away, yet He still entered their pain. He didn’t stand at a distance and tell them to stop crying because everything was going to work out. He cried with them. Their pain mattered to Him even though He knew the ending they couldn’t yet see.

That’s the Jesus we do life with. Sometimes He changes our circumstances. Sometimes He asks us to wait. Sometimes we don’t understand what He’s doing at all. But John shows us something beautiful about His heart: Jesus is never indifferent to our pain. The Creator of the universe is willing to sit beside His friends and cry.

Today’s thought: Is there something hurting me that I need to stop hiding and simply bring honestly to Jesus?

Circle up!

Shannon Formby, Founder of My Faith Journey

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