Jesus Wept

"Jesus began to weep." John 11:35

The shortest verse in the Bible was my first memory verse. I had to be at least three, but I still remember standing in front of a group of adults at church and reciting it without any knowledge of how profoud those words are in our language. A God who cries? This verse in the midst of the story of the resurrection of Lazarus caused the following reaction among those observed. "See how he loved him?" It is incomprehensible that the God of the universe can understand the anguish and pain of the loss of a loved one to death. Yet, Jesus, who was God in the flesh, stands before the tomb weeping with those who have suffered loss. Jesus cried even knowing that he is about to raise Lazarus from the dead! So why did he cry? Because Jesus knows our pain and loss. Yet, some of those who observed started asking, "Could not he have done something to prevent him from dying?" The answer was not just yet. Lazarus would die again. But, when Jesus was raised from the dead he became the first born fruit of the resurrection that gives each of us hope to overcome death and the grave someday.

It sounds perhaps strange to glorify someone who cries. But, if I had to pick an attribute of God that gives me the greatest hope that he understands, it is that Jesus wept.