Jesus Wept
The shortest verse in the Bible is “Jesus wept” (Jn. 11:35). Why was Jesus weeping? When He wept, He was standing outside the tomb of His beloved friend Lazarus. The verses following John 11:35 seem to suggest that Jesus was personally moved by the death of His friend. When the Jews saw Him weeping, they said, “See how He loved him!” (Jn. 11:36).
This, the shortest verse in the Bible, has been called the “deepest verse in the Bible.” Is there something deeper here than personal grief at a funeral?
Many have suggested that His weeping reveals His humanity. That is no doubt true. He was a “man of sorrows and acquitted with grief” (Isa. 23:3; italics added). It is also a comforting. He is a merciful High Priest, who can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities (Heb. 4:14-16).
It is also been suggested that it reveals His deity as well. Barclay says, “To the Greek the primary characteristic of God was what he called apatheia, which means total inability to feel any emotion whatsoever. How did the Greeks come to attribute such a characteristic to God? They argued like this. If we can feel sorrow or joy, gladness or grief, it means that someone can have an effect upon us. Now, if a person has an effect upon us, it means that for the moment that person has power over us. No one can have any power over God; and this must mean that God is essentially incapable of feeling any emotion whatsoever. The Greeks believed in an isolated, passionless and compassionless God. What a different picture Jesus gave” (Barclay, italics his).
There is more. The verses just prior to the famous verse about Jesus weeping say, “Therefore, when Jesus saw her (Mary) weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. And He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to Him, ‘Lord, come and see’” (Jn. 11:33-34). When Jesus saw the scene, He was deeply moved emotionally. An authority on Greek words says that the Greek word translated “groaned” means “such deep emotion seized Jesus that an involuntary groan was wrung from His heart.” He adds, “So deeply did Jesus enter into men’s sorrows that his heart was wrung with anguish” (Barclay). The Greek word translated “trouble” means “to be disturbed, stirred up.” “Jesus was profoundly moved” (Morris).
Based on the prior verses is it is safe to say that moved by the mourning of others Jesus wept. It is interesting to note that in this passage several different Greek words are used for weeping. The mourners, including Mary, wept out loud. The Greek word used of Jesus weeping indicates that He did not weep out loud like the others. Tears trickled down His cheeks. At any rate, the point is, He could sympathize with the intensity of His friend’s grief. He wept with those who weep.
In the book of Romans, Paul exhorts all of us to “rejoice with those to rejoice and weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15). Many get it backwards. They rejoiced with those who weep and weep with those who rejoice. Jesus did not do that. Nor does Christ-like love do that today. Let us be like Christ, weeping with those who weep.
© G. Michael Cocoris, 10/30/2009
This, the shortest verse in the Bible, has been called the “deepest verse in the Bible.” Is there something deeper here than personal grief at a funeral?
Many have suggested that His weeping reveals His humanity. That is no doubt true. He was a “man of sorrows and acquitted with grief” (Isa. 23:3; italics added). It is also a comforting. He is a merciful High Priest, who can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities (Heb. 4:14-16).
It is also been suggested that it reveals His deity as well. Barclay says, “To the Greek the primary characteristic of God was what he called apatheia, which means total inability to feel any emotion whatsoever. How did the Greeks come to attribute such a characteristic to God? They argued like this. If we can feel sorrow or joy, gladness or grief, it means that someone can have an effect upon us. Now, if a person has an effect upon us, it means that for the moment that person has power over us. No one can have any power over God; and this must mean that God is essentially incapable of feeling any emotion whatsoever. The Greeks believed in an isolated, passionless and compassionless God. What a different picture Jesus gave” (Barclay, italics his).
There is more. The verses just prior to the famous verse about Jesus weeping say, “Therefore, when Jesus saw her (Mary) weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. And He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to Him, ‘Lord, come and see’” (Jn. 11:33-34). When Jesus saw the scene, He was deeply moved emotionally. An authority on Greek words says that the Greek word translated “groaned” means “such deep emotion seized Jesus that an involuntary groan was wrung from His heart.” He adds, “So deeply did Jesus enter into men’s sorrows that his heart was wrung with anguish” (Barclay). The Greek word translated “trouble” means “to be disturbed, stirred up.” “Jesus was profoundly moved” (Morris).
Based on the prior verses is it is safe to say that moved by the mourning of others Jesus wept. It is interesting to note that in this passage several different Greek words are used for weeping. The mourners, including Mary, wept out loud. The Greek word used of Jesus weeping indicates that He did not weep out loud like the others. Tears trickled down His cheeks. At any rate, the point is, He could sympathize with the intensity of His friend’s grief. He wept with those who weep.
In the book of Romans, Paul exhorts all of us to “rejoice with those to rejoice and weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15). Many get it backwards. They rejoiced with those who weep and weep with those who rejoice. Jesus did not do that. Nor does Christ-like love do that today. Let us be like Christ, weeping with those who weep.
© G. Michael Cocoris, 10/30/2009