“Jesus wept.” — John 11:35
The shortest verse in the Bible. Two simple words that speak infinite volumes about the heart of Christ. Two simple words we cannot fully fathom. The very least of its profundity that our finite minds can grasp strikes us with awe.
This verse follows the death of Lazarus and precedes his raising back to life.
“When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.”
Deeply moved in spirit and troubled
Jesus delayed his coming to Lazarus even upon the urgency of the request of his sisters, Mary and Martha. It was intentional. He knew what He was about to accomplish. He even made an astounding declaration, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” (John 11:4)
Jesus knew there is sure victory. But why was He deeply moved in spirit and troubled? What made Him weep the way He did?
He sees us. He feels for us.
Our hearts echo Mary’s cry to Jesus: “If you had been here.”
When trouble, death, and calamity strike us, our tendency is to feel that Jesus is far. That He is late in coming to our rescue. An understandable human struggle, indeed. If Jesus had been here, if Jesus had not delayed, everything will turn out fine. We may sometimes feel like we are left to ourselves to grieve our deferred hope and dreams, and the great losses in our lives.
But Jesus meets with us. He sees us. Nothing about our pain, struggle, and suffering escapes His notice.
He wept because He sees the depths of our hearts and is moved with compassion and love for us. He wept not only because He sees us but because He feels for us. He is full of deep compassion (Psalm 103:13) for our suffering.
He grieves with us at present, right here, right now, even while knowing that the victory is His. His reasons for not sparing us from suffering, pain, and death are always good and ultimately for God’s glory, and that weeping and grief will all be just a faint thing of the past when the joy comes in the morning(Psalm 30:5).
He grieves with us because His heart sees us and feels for us.
The depth of Jesus’ love
That is how deep Jesus’ love for us is. Let us run to Him. In our suffering, grief and confusion, let us turn to Him for He alone has the words of eternal life (John 6:68). Let us soak in His presence and in His promises.
There is more depth to this shortest verse than what is written here but let the truth about the all-encompassing love and compassion of Jesus grip us and refresh our hearts to trust Him wholly. Christ’s love is so great that even while we were still sinners, He died (Romans 5:8). He willingly went through death, even death on the cross, so we can live, so we can have all the yeses to His promises in this life and in the life to come (2 Corinthians 1:20).