“Jesus wept.” In my previous post on April 4, 2025, I introduced a Lenten reflection on the Scripture passages telling us that Jesus, Our Lord and Our God, shed tears on several occasions during His earthly ministry; a noteworthy fact that we now dive into to better understand their meaning and significance.
Tears. An article in Scientific American asserts that tears of emotion are something uniquely human. (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-we-cry/) Scientists have demonstrated that although other mammals possess tear ducts and produce tears for functional purposes, such as cleaning and lubricating the eyes, humans are the only creatures that produce tears of emotion. In addition, the chemical makeup of emotional tears differs from other kinds of tears that humans produce. It is believed that certain chemicals built up during emotional stress are removed through our tears when we cry.
So, tears can be good for us, they can be cathartic, they can be defining. Tears can also say a great deal about our humanity by washing away the façades we sometimes erect, revealing our true identity. In his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote that in order to break through those human defenses, we must at times be taken by surprise, as tears often do:
What a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence of what sort of a man he is. Surely what pops out before a man has time to put on a disguise is the truth.
– C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Demonstrating His humanity, and something deeper about His inner person, “Jesus wept.” In John’s Gospel (John 11:35), he makes it a point to provide details about Jesus expressing this deep human emotion over the death of His friend, Lazarus. By John specifically choosing to capture this poignant moment in Christ’s ministry, it strikes me that there may be some important lessons for us packed into those two words.
Let’s now investigate the text a little deeper to explore that meaning:
At the end of Chapter 10 in John’s Gospel, Jesus was across the Jordan River where John the Baptist had been baptizing years prior. Jesus had just left Jerusalem after the Feast of Dedication having caused division among the Jewish authorities. Some were even looking to stone Him after He declared that He and the Father were one. Jesus then received some troubling news:
Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So, the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness is not unto death; it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by means of it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that he was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.
– John 11:1-6
Word comes to Jesus that his friend Lazarus, whom He loves, is ill – the word in Greek for love that the messengers use is phileo, meaning brotherly or friendship love. We then learn that Jesus loved Lazarus, and his sisters, Martha and Mary, very much – the word in Greek John uses to describe Jesus’ feelings for them is agape, meaning unconditional or sacrificial love – parental love, God’s love.
Yet, Jesus decides to stay where He is for two more days. Why? The trip from where He was to Bethany was about twenty miles, a day’s journey. But He waits two days before leaving. As we know, by the time Jesus arrived, Lazarus was already dead. Looking ahead in the text, we see that he had been dead for four days by the time Jesus arrived. Examining the timeline suggests that Lazarus died while the messengers from Mary and Martha were on their way to notify Jesus. It appears that Jesus did not leave right away because He knew Lazarus was already dead; in fact, He confirms this in the text:
Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead; and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
– John 11:14-15
Jesus then explains what has happened to Lazarus, and intimates what He plans to do. The disciples do not understand, and Jesus expounds that Lazarus’ death occurred, not only for them to witness the glory of God, but for them to believe and grow in faith.
It also becomes clear that Jesus’ decision not to go directly to Bethany when He received the news provided the opportunity, not only to demonstrate His divine power, but to also connect intimately with Mary and Martha, sharing in their pain and loss, immersing them in His agape love. Here we get a glimpse of the inner character and true nature of the Word made flesh. The friend who is moved by compassion to console the loved ones of the dearly departed by entering their grief with them and providing a healing message of hope. We then read:
Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. And even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world.” …Then Mary, when she came where Jesus was and saw him, fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled; and he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept.
– John 11:21-27, 32-35
What we see on the surface is the Lord Jesus as a friend, a tender friend, and his character as a man, in His full emotional humanity, driven to tears of compassion for the ones He loves so deeply. And from this we learn:
1. That the tenderest personal friendship is consistent with the purest faith. Piety binds stronger the ties of true friendship, making more tender the emotions of love, compassion, and empathy, sealing and sanctifying the affections of friends, forming a deep common bond. I have found this to be true personally and particularly in my work as a Chaplain when coming alongside a grieving family and loved ones.
2. It is right, it is natural, it is indispensable for a Christian to empathize with others in their afflictions. As Romans 12:15 proclaims “rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” Those shared emotions amid suffering draw us closer, especially when the source is mutual love and the bond is compassion and empathy.
3. As Christians we are rightly concerned with both the mortal human life and with eternal life. Sorrow at the death of a friend is not improper. It is right to weep. Given how close they all were, for Jesus not to show emotion would seem unusual. It is a natural expression, and true faith does not forbid or condemn it. In fact, faith serves to temper and chasten our grief. It teaches us to mourn with submission to God; to weep without complaining or blaming. We seek to banish tears, not by hardening our heart or forgetting the departed, but by guiding the soul, made tender by grief, receiving the sweet influence of genuine faith, and finding lasting peace in the God of all consolation.
4. We have here a clear illustration of the loving and sensitive character of Jesus. Believers, as well as penitent sinners, may now come to that same tender and compassionate Savior knowing that He will not turn them away. As Hebrews 4:15 reveals, “For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
5. When facing troubles in life, we have all thought it or heard it asked, “Where is God when I need Him?” This story affirms that when we are in friendship with Jesus, He is right there. When we are hurt and grieving, when terrible things happen and tragedy strikes, He is right there with us, amid the pain, with tears on His face.
“Jesus wept.” The word choice used here in the Greek stands in sharp contrast to the weeping by the mourners that occurs in verse 33, denoting a loud wail for the dead, while that of Jesus consisted of silent tears – edakrusen, meaning a quiet shedding of tears. What a seal of His perfect oneness with us in the most redeeming feature of our stricken humanity; tears. But was there nothing in those tears beyond sympathy for his friends and their sorrow over Lazarus’ death?
Consider now at a deeper level all that is happening in this story:
Jesus, the Word made flesh (John 1:1-14), the Creator of the universe, stands and weeps at the grave of a friend. Jesus had already mentioned several times His intention to raise Lazarus, so He knew what was about to happen, yet He was still moved to tears. Raising Lazarus was an opportunity for God’s glory to shine, yet it would not even have been necessary if sin and death had not entered the picture.
The key to understanding verse 35, Jesus’ weeping, is found in verse 33: “When Jesus saw her (Mary) weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.” The words John uses here in Greek to describe Jesus’ feelings are very expressive and speak to extraordinarily strong emotions: enebrimēsato, meaning to be deeply moved with anger, and etaraxen, meaning upset, emotionally agitated, troubled. John uses these same terms in his Gospel at 12:27 and 13:21, when Jesus speaks of His own death and of His betrayal by Judas, respectively. Jesus was terribly upset, agitated, and angered by what He witnessed in the mourning over Lazarus’ death. So much so that He was moved to shed tears of His own.
Knowing He was about to raise Lazarus, it is doubtful it was the death of His friend alone that pained Jesus; it was the tears on Mary’s face, along with those mourning with her, that overwhelmed Him with emotion and caused His weeping. Who can doubt that for Him every aspect of this scene proclaimed the harsh reality of that stern law of the Kingdom: “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a).
Before sin entered the picture, death held no sway, mourning and tears of sorrow were non-existent. Yet, John tells us, Jesus weeps at the grave of a friend and mourns with his loved ones. Is there any doubt that at a funeral service, even today, our Lord Jesus stands, a quiet observer, shedding tears over yet another example of the consequence of sin in the world. Then we joyfully recall the full statement that Paul made in his letter to the Romans, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Praise be to God!
Feel free to share this post:
Link to my X Profile: @TheSpiritMove
Reflection questions:
- Check out this site for more detail about the three occasions of divine tears recorded in the Bible: https://aleteia.org/2020/12/01/3-reasons-why-jesus-cried-in-the-bible/
- What strikes you when reading those words “Jesus wept” and the realization that Our Lord and Our God weeps with and on behalf of His friends?
- Consider John’s specific word choices in recounting this story; phileo vs. agape for love; the silent tears of Jesus vs. the loud wailing of the crowd; Jesus’ strong emotions of agitation and anger when witnessing Mary’s tears that moved Him to tears of His own. How do these details paint a clearer picture, not only of the incarnate Christ, but of Jesus’ divinity as well?
John 1:1-14, 10:31-40, 11:1-35, 12:27, 13:21 Romans 6:23, 12:15 Hebrews 4:15
Leave a comment