When God Cries

When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When 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. Now 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.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?” (John 11: 28-37).

Just after her declaration of faith in Jesus as the Christ, Martha ran to her sister Mary. Though John does not record the words of Jesus, Martha tells her that He was calling for her. Perhaps Martha’s heart was so comforted by the ministry of the Christ that she wanted her hurting sister to experience the same faith-transforming comfort. She knew this kind of comfort came only from the Christ, so she exhorted her sister to go to Him. It has become a common practice for disciples who have been comforted by the Master’s touch to lead others to Him that they might experience the same comfort… “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). Mary echoed the same declaration of grief and frustration that her sister Martha met Jesus with… “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died”. This time it was as if Jesus did not hear her words. He was moved instead by Mary’s weeping. He was troubled by the crowd’s weeping too. He asked them to lead Him to the tomb, hoping they would follow and witness a miracle. Along the way and in front of the tomb, “Jesus wept”. Think on the significance for a moment. Meditate on the implication of the truth that the Son of God, God incarnate, on the road to a very dramatic Christ-confirming event, paused and wept. Every word that He spoke and every deed that He did were signs that confirmed His divinity. In the same way, through the tears of Christ, the heart of God is revealed when God cries.

Disciples are set apart from followers by a consuming desire to know Christ… “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). The Spirit inspired John to use the Greek word ginōskō for the word translated know here. The word means to understand, be sure of, and be resolved about. It’s the kind of knowledge a husband and wife should develop toward each other. The word implies that to know Christ is to know what makes Him happy, sad, angry, and more. How well do you Know Christ today? Are you sensitive to His laughter or His tears in the midst of all you are facing today? Are you willing to replace your temporal frustrations with His holy anger today? On the way to a miracle, the heart of God was revealed when Jesus wept.

Jesus wept over death. Death reminds God of the rebellion and rejection of mankind... “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). Jesus wept to connect with us. With His tears God showed us He truly shares our grief and He wants us to share each other’s sorrows… “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted” (Isaiah 53:4). Jesus wept because Lazarus had to suffer again to bring God glory. Lazarus was in paradise… “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). To be part of a miracle that would bring many to faith in Christ he had to return to this temporal world… “Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him” (John 11:45). Truly there is much revelation into the compassion of God for disciples who are sensitive to the heart Christ.

As we grow up into Christ we reflect His heart and compassion as we minister His comfort to others…

When God Cries.