Why does Jesus weep in John 11:35? The crowd assumes it is because his friend Lazarus died. Jesus has a typically human emotional reaction to death. But most commentaries point out the vocabulary used to describe Jesus’s emotions go beyond sorrow. Although most modern readers see this phrase a demonstration of Jesus’s tender and compassionate heart, the verbs translated “Jesus Wept” in John 11:33 have the connotation of indignation and anger.
C. K. Barrett says the view that Jesus was angry “beyond question” (John, 399). Beasley-Murray argues the verb ἐμβριμάομαι should be read as“became angry in spirit” (John, Second Edition, 192-3). That Jesus is moved “in his spirit” is an indication this is a deeply internal emotional reaction.
The second verb in John 11:33 is ταράσσω, a verb associated with deep turmoil and In the next chapter, Jesus will use the same word to describe his spirit prior to the passion events (John 12:27). In Matthew 14:26 it is used to describe the terror felt by the disciples when the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water. In Luke 24:38 the verb describes the terror of the disciples when they encountered the resurrected Jesus. In each cases, there is a feeling of dread since a sinful person is encountering a divine being.
Whatever the combination of these terms means, it cannot be said Jesus was shaken by the death of Lazarus since he had predicted it. We cannot say he is expressing emotions similar to Mary and Martha, who are mourning their dead brother. Jesus knows he will raise Lazarus from the dead so his tears are unlikely sorrow over Lazarus’s death.
A slight variation of this view is Craig Keener who suggested Jesus was angry at the unbelief of the mourners (John, 846). Raymond Brown suggested Jesus was angry at Satan and the domain of death itself, or possibly Jesus is angry “at death” in general (John, 203).
When Jesus does weep, it is not the same as Mary and Martha, or the other mourners. They are “wailing” (κλαίω), while Jesus “weeps” (δακρύω). The word is rare, appearing only a few times in the Greek Old Testament (for example, Job 3:24, Job’s tears). I am not sure there is enough evidence to say Jesus’s tears were more or less sorrowful based on vocabulary. John simply varied the terms in order to avoid repetition (as he does elsewhere in the Gospel).
A better way of looking at Jesus’s frustrated emotional response is to see it in the light of Mary and Martha’s lack of understanding that he is the “Resurrection and the Life” and their apparent unbelief in his status as the giver of Life. Jesus just told Mary and Martha he is the resurrection and the life. Rather than some distant eschatological resurrection in the future, Jesus is about to demonstrate his power over life and death. But none of the disciples seem to understand this!
The power of the coming age is present in Jesus’s ministry. But even the closest disciples do not fully understand who he is until after the resurrection. So, “Jesus wept.”
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
Passion, I see, is catching; for mine eyes,
Seeing those beads of sorrow stand in thine,
Begin to water. –Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
Like Shakespeare’s Antony, Jesus wept when he felt the sorrow others, particularly Martha and Mary and the crowd. Let’s let Scripture interpret Scripture. Verse 33 says, “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.”
No longer angry, Jesus wept because he was overcome by the mourning of those who loved Lazarus: “Jesus wept.”
The Jews knew why the Son of Man was weeping: “See how he loved him.”
To see something other than deep sorrow in Jesus’ tears is misguided, perhaps an exercise in eisegesis. The Evangelist is very clear in this passage. There is no need to search for a subtext that is not there.
Jesus wept because he felt deep sorrow.
Looking at why Jesus wept, there really could be a number of reasons behind the meaning of that simple passage. However, Jesus’s weeping doesn’t have to be about just one thing, but it could have been a combination of several things. It makes sense to think that Jesus would be frustrated with the people’s unbelief when he had just said that he was the resurrection and the life, but the Bible clearly says as well that humans can’t comprehend the plans of God with passages like Psalm 147:5 and Isaiah 5:8-9. I’m not saying that because they don’t understand that it is okay then to overlook their ignorance, but people tend to focus on what they know and what seems logical. Because a raising of the dead like this has never happened before, the idea may not have even crossed their minds. If looking at the root word that shows an angry weeping, Jesus’s reaction then, I think, is directed more at sin itself. He knows that he is able to undo death so his weeping is because of sin’s existence which results in Lazarus’s death along with Mary and Martha’s lack of understanding. Kostenberger sees Jesus’s tears as a reaction to his humanity by saying, “What a beautiful display of Jesus’s humanity at the threshold of the most amazing display of his divinity in John’s gospel!” (Kostenberger, 115). Jesus’s humanity is shown through his tears as well, because Lazarus’s death was personal for him, even if he could undo it. He has compassion and understands the sorrow that everyone feels with death, yet follows it directly with raising Lazarus to display his glory and show what he really was saying when he said that he is the resurrection and the life.
Why did Jesus weep? Jesus wept when he heard that his friend Lazarus was dead. Lazarus was his dear friend who he clearly loved very much. I think there are really three main reasons that Jesus wept. He wept because he lost his dear friend who he loved so much. Secondly, he wept because he was God and he knew that these people lost a soul that they did not think they would see again on this earth. And last but not least Jesus knew that death meant separation from God and he knew that very soon he would have to be separated from God for three days before he would rise again. I think we often forget that Jesus was in fact God and yet he was in fact fully human. He felt all the emotions that humans felt and that includes grief and sorrow. He was emotionally in pain at losing his friend and he was probably in physical pain at the thought that he would soon be separated from God for three days.
I understand what the commentaries mean about Jesus being angry about the death of Lazarus, or, more so, the domain of death. I also believe that the tears were not merely out of sorrow for the loss of Lazarus. I believe that it comes from the compassion and empathy that Jesus has for Mary and Martha.
In verse 33, it says that “When Jesus saw her (Mary) weeping… he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled” (John 11:33). Jesus was not sad because Lazarus died, because he knew he would walk again in a matter of minutes. Jesus’ tears had nothing to do with Lazarus at all. Jesus saw the pain that Mary was going through, and he had compassion on her. He felt the pain that she was feeling. The empathy that Jesus shows for Mary shows his humanity in the process, how he can truly understand what it must have felt like for her. Kostenberger makes a similar point when he says that “he is moved to compassion by the death of his friend” (Kostenberger, 115). The death itself does not show Jesus’ compassion, but rather how he responds to those mourning does. It is also worth noting that he does not tell them to not be sad, but rather affirms their feelings by feeling for them and empathizing with them.
its an odd concept because I like many others figure Jesus is weeping for Lazarus but it does make sense that this is not the case. when looking at the response to Lazarus’s death as a whole everyone is sad but Jesus is the only one whom sadness does not make sense for. if he knows he will bring Lazarus back he really cant be sad. he can however be upset that everyone around him is resigned to the fact that Lazarus is dead and thinking that nothing can be done about it even though he has taught them all time and time gain who he is. Jesus weeps out of frustration that those who follow him do not seem to understand who he is even though he has shown them
Why did Jesus weep? This is a good question and my first response would be that he was a man. Jesus although he was fully God come down to earth we also have to remember he was God in the flesh which means he was made just like us. Jesus has feelings and when a dear friend passes away how else would you react other than to be sad. We all know that it took Jesus a while to come and see Lazarus after he was sick and passed away one thing that I just thought about was maybe in those days Jesus knew he passed away and in that he didn’t want to see him suffering here on earth as he was sick but along with that we don’t like to see somebody for the last time and when you have to say goodbye. Maybe Jesus was feeling the same way we would although when he went and saw him, he would raise Lazarus from the dead. Another idea is that he saw his family around him shook and sad about what had happened to such a great man that it would be hard to face family when they all feel the same way. Jesus was a man just like us and felt emotions of sadness and happiness and we may not think about that too much as all we know he was perfect but Jesus definitely wept because he was sad for what has happened to someone he deeply loved.
It seems like a lot of Jesus’s emotions were out of sadness and directed towards the people’s disbelief that He could not raise Lazarus from the dead. A considerable portion of this disbelief came from the sister’s Mary and Marta, who mourned heavily on the death of their brother. According to Kostenberger, the sisters had enough faith in Jesus to keep Lazarus from dying but not enough faith that he could raise him from the dead (Kostenberger, 131). For that reason, I believe Jesus was saddened because they failed to acknowledge Jesus as the Resurrection and the Life, as mentioned in your post. Raising Lazarus from the dead gave proof to Jesus’s identity and set the stage for his resurrection to come. Therefore, because the people lacked to acknowledge His power over death and life, Jesus was saddened because something similar to this nature was coming. Jesus was setting the stage for his resurrection, and because the people failed to recognize the implications associated with Lazarus’s resurrection, He might have felt people wouldn’t have understood the significance of His resurrection.
I think the definition of terms is very important in order to interpret this passage correctly. As cited above in the article, most of the commentaries on this passage suggest that Jesus was not sorrowful in the same sense that Mary and Martha were; rather, Jesus was “troubled in spirit”. The Greek speaks for itself. This particular phrase seems to imply anger, but other commentators seemed to interpret the Greek as meaning “agitation”. There is, however, a vast difference between being angry and being merely agitated. Anger, according to most definitions, is an attitude of hostility or annoyance, but I don’t believe Jesus could truly have been maintaining such an attitude in the context of John 11:35. I think, in order to determine the kind of tears that Jesus shed, it is requisite to assess why Mary and Martha were crying. Logically, since during this time women depended on men domestically, not only were Mary and Martha sad that their brother had died, but I am sure that they were anxious about how they were going to provide for themselves. In other words, the fact of their brothers death had many negative consequences for them–and not just emotional ones. Jesus, being the smartest man who ever lived, surely knew this about their condition, and even though He was perhaps saddened by the fact that they had such disbelief, surely empathized with them as well. I think, as Kostenberger hinted at, Jesus really was appalled by the fallenness of the world and the fact that death was so inevitable and so hurtful, a reflection of the devil who initiated it.
We as humans like to think that Jesus would react to things in a similar fashion that we might because we know that He experienced things on earth so that He could relate to us. However, this is not really the case. Jesus’ responses and reactions are different because He is perfect, and we react within our sinful natures. This also applies to how Jesus responds to the death of Lazarus. Looking at the context of the original language, it is more likely that Jesus is experiencing indignation and anger. In the post, there are a couple of views held by Craig Keener that give us a different view of what Jesus could be feeling. The first is that Jesus is angry at the unbelief of the mourners. I am not sure that this would be the case because Jesus is doing the miracle so that the Glory of God can be shown. Would there be the same response if people did believe that He could raise Lazarus from the dead? Would events have played out the same way? In the Garden of Gethsemane before Jesus is taken to trial, He is in anguish. Even at this time when He wanted things to play out differently, He was not angry with humanity. The next thing that is suggested is that Jesus is angry at Satin who has dominion over death, or even death itself. This seems to be a more logical thing for Jesus to be angry at in this time. He is angry at the fact that this world is not what it is intended to be; and there is still death, sin, and unbelief, but not necessarily at the people around Him.
Jesus was fully man, and fully God. This simple point clearly demonstrates that Jesus was going to feel human emotions, but also have the attributes of surpassing death, just as God does. Just like the other miracles seen throughout the gospels, I think this one is pivotal because it shows the emotion that Jesus feels for someone that he loves, and even though he doesn’t heal him first, this was solely because God’s glory was going to be shown. The part that is confusing is we all think that Jesus should have came sooner, and instead healed Lazarus before he died. This is easier understood as then Jesus would not have any metaphor for him dying and coming back to life a few days later, just as Lazarus had died and rose again.
This is crazy to me, that even the disciples were not able to fully understand what Jesus was doing. It would make sense that Jesus was crying, weeping because he knew these people were not going to understand even after telling them and showing them so clearly that he is the ressurection and the life. Jesus knew that most of Israel would still reject him even after showing them these things. It seems to me similar to Luke 19 when Jesus weeps over Jerusalem. He is weeping at the fact that they will not understand, that they are lost. Jesus weeping over the peoples circumstance in John 11 seems to match up with what we have seen Jesus do and how he has reacted before. For him to weep over death would not make any sense considering he knows he has authority over death, and he is about raise Lazarus from the dead. Makes me wonder how often do we get upset, emotionaly over the fact that people are lost and people do not understand what Jesus has done and what he has shown us.
Prior to this class, I had always assumed just like the crowd that Jesus wept because his good friend had died. However, I know recognize that he wept out of anger because of the unbelief of the mourners. (Long) I had previously also heard from speakers that Jesus had wept because he knew that he was pulling Lazarus back from paradise, which I am not sure if this statement has any legitimate legs to it. Do we truly know why Jesus wept in that moment? We can however use context to recognize that Jesus was not likely mourning in the same manner as the Lazarus’s sisters, Mary and Martha, and the other mourners. However, as mentioned in the blog post, there may not be enough evidence to show whether Jesus’s tears were more or less sorrowful based on what we are given in the story. I find it thought provoking that it is mentioned that John could have simply just changed up the word to avoid repetition, which could make sense considering most people change how they word sentences to avoid sounding like they only know a few words. The idea that John could have just changed the word to avoid repetition could make sense considering “he does this elsewhere in the Gospel” (Long). As I have mentioned earlier, is it truly known why or how Jesus had wept in that moment?
I really did appreciate this blog and class because all growing up when I would hear the stories I would hear how Jesus was crying for his friend who was lost. I think that is is good that we heard this story as children because I was also taught that this shows that Jesus had human emotions, however I do believe you when you were saying how Jesus is more crying because the others were not believing in him. I think that telling the story correctly still shows that Jesus had human emotions and felt rather irritated that his friends would not know that he can heel. I think that there could even be two stories to pull from this chapter, and that could be that Jesus is still crying for those that do not believe. God wants us all to believe that He is the author of life, and He wants us all to be apart of His family.
While reading this blog, and connecting the lecture we had in class I would have to agree with Craig Keener. When I was made aware of this story I didn’t think much of it but going back and reading it, I can see that the weeping Jesus was doing was out of anger. Mary and Martha both stated “My brother wouldn’t have died if you were here”; thus angered Christ because they didn’t understand the power He had to bring Lazarus back to life. Not only was He angry with the sisters, but the people who surrounded them as well (which would be the unbelievers). I do think this is the main reason for Jesus’ weeping, but I can see how the view that Raymond Brown had as well. Death was never intended for us, but since sin entered the world, there was a consequence for that which is death. Now, Jesus could have been so fed up with both sin & death, which caused Him to be in tears. I don’t think this view has much value as the unbelievers view just because when Long stated that Jesus was not weeping as the others in the crowd were.
Of the many reasons given as to why Jesus wept, I find that the most plausible explanation would be because of Mary and Martha’s lack of understanding that He is the “Resurrection and the Life” and their apparent unbelief in His status as the giver of Life (Long). In John 11: 33-35 the reason for Jesus having wept was given in that ” When Jesus saw her (Mary) weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. Although both Mary and Martha profess that “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11: 21 and 32) there still seems to be a hint of doubt that remains within Mary and Martha as to whether or not Jesus would be able to raise Lazarus from the dead which produces in Jesus a sadness due to their unbelief. Therefore, having been moved to compassion by the death of Lazarus and the unbelief of Mary, Martha and the Jews who accompanied them (Kostenberger, 115), Jesus wept as He went to the tomb. There, Jesus was able to glorify God by showing that He was in fact the Resurrection of the dead.
In life we will deal with emotions that will be good and those that will be bad. Emotions are just very natural and very real. Jesus came to earth and became human so everything that we feel Jesus felt. One thing that I came to understand reading about the death of Lazarus is that Jesus already knew that Lazarus was going to die. I do not believe that Jesus was crying over Lazarus. The reason why I believe that is because Lazarus was raised from the dead. I think the main reason why Jesus was crying was maybe because he seen others cry because Lazarus was dead. I believe that this is true due to scripture but also in life application. Everyone is different but there are a times where a person is emotionally hurt or they a hurting because they lost a loved one and they reach out to someone that person may weep because they feel the pain of that person. I think that is what happened with Jesus. I believe that he felt the pain of those who were mourning and he wept. Specifically looking at John 11:32-35 Jesus was deeply moved in his spirit and his spirit was troubled when we saw Mary in the Jews mourning. Jesus the cause of Jesus tears was because of others mourning not because of Lazarus death because he knew that Lazarus was going to be risen.
Showing Jesus’ emotions was a great tool that John used to describe Christology. He needed to convince the Jews that Jesus is the true Messiah. This is the main goal of John’s entire book. John 11:35 has always been a verse that has been preached about throughout my experience in church. It was always this idea that Jesus cried because He was a human. It was also like, we can be like Jesus and express our emotions. This blog post was interesting because P. Long explains the reason why Jesus wept.
First of all, it was interesting that the Greek word for this action implies that Jesus was expressing a fervent emotion like indignation or even anger. This was surprising to me to find that in another place in the Bible Jesus could possibly be showing anger like the clearing of the Temple. I believe these emotions are very similar. I believe that Jesus was probably frustrated that even His disciples did not understand that He had power over life. Jesus rose Lazarus from the dead to show that He does have this power. He was probably just frustrated that His people undermined Him, and began to weep over their dead loved one.
Jesus has the power, all we need to do is surrender and trust Him!
I find this question interesting as to why would Jesus weep? Yes Jesus is a fully God, but he is also fully human. Which, I think at times we forget that Jesus is also human. That being said he feels different emotions towards different things. It may seem odd that he is affected by the death of Lazarus, when he predicted it and knew when Lazarus was going to die. This sounds familiar to what thousands of people experience each year. Death is all around us. We as humans cannot predict when we are going to die or when our loved ones may pass away. But we do know that one day they will. When that happens we too will experience similar emotions to what Jesus experienced when lazarus died.
This is a very interesting post as I have never thought in the perspective of Jesus actually being frustrated to the point of tears instead of feeling sad. I can understand from the outside perspective that a divine being like Jesus could get upset with all the miracles and teachings He has done, and yet Martha and Mary still did not believe. I think I have to say that I disagree with Beasley-Murray that the Greek verb, ἐμβριμάομαι, should be read as “became angry within” (Long, 107). Jesus had joined His sadness and heartfelt sorrow with His friends, but still rejoices with the joy of the resurrection that is to follow (ESVSB, 2046). The moment He burst into tears was to show His full humanity at the doorway of the most extraordinary display of His divinity in John’s Gospel (Köstenberger, 131).
I have always thought about this verse was to show Jesus’s full humanity by having the same emotions as us when things happen. Even though He already knew He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead. Contemplating that Jesus could actually be angry does not sound like Him, but I could be wrong. Showing grief over a friend even though He has the power to bring him back versus being angry over His friends that they do not have faith in Him, sounds like He is fully human.
Jesus wept– a passage that is often used to show that Jesus experienced sorrow and to comfort others who are mourning. While I believe that there is value in showing that Jesus experienced sorrow, and that this passage can help those in grief, I also believe that it is just as important to look at the passage from the point of view that Jesus was also feeling deep anger or irritation. Before taking in the content of the blog post, I never thought that the verse, “Jesus wept” could imply him being frustrated with the unbelief of Martha and Mary, when looking at the original language of the written passage. Jesus had the power to raise Lazarus, him being the Son of God and God himself, yet Mary and Martha do not have enough faith to grasp this concept. Kostenberger states, “They greet Jesus with identical words: ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ This makes clear that the sisters has enough faith in Jesus’ ability to keep Lazarus from dying, but perhaps not enough faith to believe that Jesus could raise him from the dead” (p.115). After considering this, why wouldn’t Jesus be upset? Martha and Mary appeared to not have enough faith to believe that Jesus could raise the dead, how were people going to handle it when he proclaims to save everyone from death, from their sins? It would make sense that Jesus experienced anger at their disbelief, how many times would he have to defy peoples disbelief over and over, and how would people have the faith to believe he would save humanity itself from death? Jesus had every right to experience frustration. He loved humanity like no other.
I believe that there could have been multiple reasons that Jesus wept, I understand why the two people in this blog Craig Keener and Raymond brown suggested that Jesus was angry at the unbelief of the mourners and that Jesus was angry at Satan and the domain of death itself, or possibly Jesus is angry at death in general. Jesus performed multiple signs and tried to prove to people that He was the Son of God, and people still chose not to believe Him. So I do believe that Jesus could have been angry at the unbelief of the mourners. Jesus was probably frustrated honestly, and He has a good reason to be, Jesus was basically giving these people proof right in front of them, Jesus was like I’m the Son of God and the way to eternal life, and He did so much to prove himself and they just couldn’t believe Him. However, I do believe that Jesus could have been weeping because He was good friends with Lazarus and close with Mary and Martha so Jesus could have been weeping to show compassion and sympathy for them. I like how you mention in the blog that Jesus knew that Lazarus would be raised from the dead so he most likely wasn’t weeping at the fact that Lazarus was currently dead. I think that Jesus weeping in this situation shows His human nature and The compassion that He has for people.
The good shepherd discourse allows John to show many claims that Jesus makes Himself out to be. “In his discourse, Jesus presents himself as the legitimate Shepard of God’s people, casting the Jewish religious leadership as illegetamte. (Kostenberger, p 109) Jesus talks about being the Shepherd to God’s people which he calls the “flock” saying that they had been led astray and He is supposed to get them to follow Him. I believe that Jesus is the eschatological shepherd that Ezekiel was talking about.
The action of Jesus weeping is something I’ve never given much thought to. I always believed it was because he was mourning the death of Lazarus. Although, after giving it some more thought I truly believe it to be much more than that. During this semester I have been challenged in looking deeper into the encounters of Christ. Above in the article it mentions that this action of weeping might be caused by anger or frustration. I personally see this situation of Christ reflecting his emotion. Emotion is not just a humanity thing that we might commonly believe to be but we are given the ability to feel from God. Throughout the Bible God is said to be angered, loving, saddened and so on. Here it appears that Jesus is weeping the death of Lazarus but as well as the actual concept of death. The passage states, “many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.”(John 33:19). There was a great amount of people there mourning the loss of Lazarus. This was a time of great sadness and this was dear friend of Jesus. I believe that Jesus was saddened by the death of his friend but He also saw the great affects it has on people. Christ loves us all and it hurts him to see us hurt. This scene of Jesus weeping seems to be a moment where he understands the pain of sin. It may even be moment when He is given a glimpse of what He will feel on the cross.
I absolutely love the fact Jesus cried- He is fully man, he is emotional. It may be the shortest verse in the Bible, but this short verse contains a huge amount of insight and significance. Although on the surface, it may just seem like is simply crying at the death of Lazarus, and nothing more. However, why include this verse for only that reason? I believe the even greater power of this verse is to powerfully illustrate Jesus’ humanity- fully on display here! What we’ve learned over the course of this semester through class lectures and through careful study of the scriptures and study of the Kostenberger textbook, we discover so many unique qualities about John’s gospel, and I believe one of the main unique distinctions found in John is the great emphasis put on the fact that Jesus is fully God, and fully human. John 11:35 is a perfect embodiment of that- God comforts those who mourn, and Jesus mourns, and Jesus comforts those who mourn. It’s also important to note that while Jesus knew Lazarus’ death was coming- he mourned for him anyway. I find this profoundly interesting. I believe it is yet another example of Jesus’ humility, He is divine and all-knowing, but He is not above crying and mourning- showing that He is fully man.
Humans are messy and complicated. I think it is a great oversimplification to try to restrict the reason for Jesus’ tearful response to a single source. It seems perfectly reasonable to me that Jesus could be weeping both out of frustration as well as sorrow. However, in this case I think that the primary source of frustration that Jesus could have been experiencing can easily be misplaced after reading this post. While I think that frustration at unbelief could have been a contributing factor, the words of Martha do not seem to me to be words of unbelief, but rather uncertainty of what is going to transpire. Her confession in John 11:22 would not have occurred if she didn’t have faith that Jesus could do something about their hopeless situation. I do not see a frustrated, angry tone in the words that Jesus speaks to her, but rather encouragement and a perspective shift for a woman lost in sorrow.
When He is moved in anger, I think it would only be at the belief of those who allowed the death of Lazarus to crumble their faith, or at the emotional pain that his death had inflicted upon those whom he loved. Jesus may also have a twinge of anger at the knowledge that he could have averted this situation. While the comment that the crowd made to this effect may have come from a place of questioning unbelief, it still rings true enough to have an emotional effect on Jesus.
However, regardless of the source of the irritation that caused Jesus to be troubled in His spirit, I think that Jesus is ultimately giving us an example of how to carry out the exhortation that Paul makes in Romans 12:15b: “weep with those who weep.”
I have never thought about this verse from this perspective before, so reading this blog post was insightful for me. I remember discussing in one of my psychology classes about Jesus weeping with Mary and Martha, and how Jesus wept in order to empathize with them and demonstrate that he deeply cared about them by relating to their emotions. As Long also mentions above, Jesus knew that Lazarus was going to die, so it is not that he was crying for the reason of it being unexpected; rather, that he was attempting to empathize with them. So, it was interesting to me reading this blog post and seeing how things could have been taken slightly out of context. The fact that Jesus was “weeping” while Mary and Martha were “wailing” shows that while they both cried, it was likely that they did not cry the same way or as the other mourners (Long, 2014). I think that it would make sense that rather than only wanting to show empathy, Jesus was crying out of righteous anger or frustration. Over and over again, Jesus would tell his followers who he is, and he performed several miracles to show that he is the “Resurrection and the Life,” yet his followers still would not believe who he is until after his death and resurrection. This would make sense that Jesus could have been crying out of frustration with his own followers not initially believing who he truly is, despite proving that he is the Son of God several times.
To say that there is one correct answer to this question is false. The people that were around Jesus after the death of Lazarus would most likely assume that He was crying because He missed his friend and was troubled by their death. The thoughts that he is showing sympathy for what His friend has suffered through and possibly a foreshadowing to the death that Jesus himself would suffer. The frustration that the people would not believe that Jesus was the Son of God even after all the miracles or signs that should have proved it. Jesus could be upset by the fact that there were false mourners because they were hired to be there. Mary and Martha did not understand when Jesus say he was saying that He was the Resurrection and the Life. She assumed that Jesus was referring to her brother. The spirit was believed to have left the body by the fourth day; Lazarus had been declared dead had started to display signs of rigamortis and had begun to have a great odor. This being Jesus most powerful sign in which he gains the strongest following that ultimately fulfills his mission here on earth. When He himself rises over death and returns to His true form.
This is a verse I have known since I was a kid. I will admit, we got prizes at church for memorizing verses and this was my go to verse. It wasn’t until I was a little older that I actually read the rest of the chapter to see why Jesus wept. Even after reading this, I wondered why Jesus would be so upset since He knew that Lazarus would be risen from the dead anyway. The two theories I came up with were that he was just sad because He had to see His friend dead or that He was doing something similar to Romans 12:15 (ESV), which says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep”. However, after reading this blog, I agree that one logical reason could be that Jesus was just angry with death in general. This kind of relates to me thinking that Jesus was upset that He had to see His friend dead, but thinking of Jesus being angry about it adds a little more to it that I hadn’t really thought about. I think all of these ideas have a chance of being right, but it is definitely an interesting verse that can get you thinking.
When I was very young I went to the funeral of my great aunt. I had heard how she was a wonderful, kind caring lady, who also happened to be a fudge making genius. Despite what I knew I had never met her. However, even though I didn’t really know my great aunt I found myself weeping at her funeral. Then, and even to this day I can’t fully explain why. Human emotions are at times a great deal more complex than a matter of cause and effect. Jesus weeps in this passage, and this could be from his own sense of grief, his sympathy for the grieving around him, frustration, emotional and physical fatigue or any number of factors. What this passage does is show us a human and divine Jesus. A Jesus who being fully God and man, can succumb to overwhelming, deep emotions, yet retains the authority to raise the dead and bring an end to grief. It is a reasonable thing to question what could make the Son of God weep, after all he is God and people will forever be curious about him. However, like many things in scripture, I feel we over simplify Jesus as a person when we try to narrow down his motivations and feeling to one or two factors and their corresponding reactions.
This verse is probably a verse almost everyone knows because it’s short and when you had to memorize a verse for children’s church as a kid you probably wanted the shortest one possible. The context behind this verse is Lazarus has died and his sisters are crying over his death. The verse simply states “Jesus wept” (John 11:35, ESV). I think Jesus began to cry after Lazarus’s death to show the mourning of His friend because that’s what you do when someone you know dies; you mourn them. Jesus evidently knew that Lazarus was not going to stay dead since He was going to raise him from the dead. I don’t think Him crying was out of anger or frustration but His humanity showing through Him.
In John 11:35 “Jesus Wept” there are many reason why Jesus could have wept. Looking at the passages, Jesus friend Lazarus died and Jesus did not come until four days after he was in the tomb. Mary and Martha were saddened by their brother death and told Jesus once he arrived that if he come sooner he could have possibly saved him. Jesus was saddened by the death of his friend and joined those who ever grieving. Jesus has felt heartfelt sorrow but the underlying if this is that Jesus knew of the joy that was going to follow. “Jesus example shows that heartfelt mourning in the face of death does not indicate lack of faith but honest sorrow at the reality if suffering death” (ESV Study Bible Notes). Jesus loves his people and when they are hurting Jesus is also feeling their sorrow and pain and was sad with those who were in pain and sad about Lazarus death.
Well To Me When Lazarus died Martha and Mary cried over his body. Jesus saw their pain and couldn’t help but cry to. This is interesting to me because this showed that he is human to have shown those emotions. In John 11: 33-35 the reason for Jesus having wept was given in that” When Jesus saw her (Mary) weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. Although both Mary and Martha profess that “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11: 21 and 32) there still seems to be a hint of doubt that remains within Mary and Martha as to whether or not Jesus would be able to raise Lazarus from the dead which produces in Jesus a sadness due to their unbelief. This is my understanding on why Jesus wept.
The idea of Jesus weeping has been a deeply emotional aspect of the gospel of John for many believers. This verse has been used to comfort those who are grieving and experiencing loss, and have often been used to give insight into the human condition of Jesus. So, with such an emotional connotation connected to this story of Jesus, it sounds almost shocking to hear that Jesus is not shedding tears of sorrow, but rather tears of anger and indignation. What was Jesus angry about? Was Jesus truly angry at the people around him, as they could not understand who he was? Was his anger that their unbelief justified, as they were mere humans with limited understanding? While Jesus was fully God, he was also fully man. The people around him were fully man, without the deep understanding of God that Jesus had. So, it is certainly understandable that Jesus would have been frustrated, as he had a deep understanding of things beyond the comprehension of many of the people he interacted with in his daily life. Perhaps his frustration stemmed from his inability to make them fully understand who he was, or perhaps it was because he knew that they still would not understand after he demonstrated a radically miraculous act in raising Lazarus. Jesus was about to perform an act that was like nothing any of his followers had seen before, and yet he knew that unbelief would still follow. Perhaps Jesus was thinking about his own future resurrection, and the unbelief that would follow despite his evident characteristics of God. Whatever his reasoning was, knowing that his tears were not of sorrow but of anger change how this story is read, and provide a deeper insight into the character of Jesus.
There are many things we can pull from this verse. When I reflect on it and all that is given to me resource-wise, I can not say it just has one meaning. Throughout John, we see Jesus being described as God, yet also man. I think this could be another example of that, even though Jesus knew the decision that had already been made over Lazarus’ life, he wept because his body was still flesh. Köstenberger says “What a beautiful display of Jesus’s full humanity at the threshold of the most amazing display of his divinity in John’s gospel” (115). And truly this is what I truly think it is, but not that it’s the only thing. I thought it was interesting in the blog how you said another understanding of the words used would be a sort of anger. Which again is a God-feeling (Old Testament) and a human feeling, showing the divinity. But when reading the blog I realized that Jesus hates death. It was never in the original design and he hates it enough to come down from the throne and take the toll on himself just for humanity. Looking at all this evidence I think there are many reasons Jesus wept, and we can not just sum it up into one straight answer.
I had never heard of this point of view regarding this passage before. I had always been taught that this was a glimpse into the humanity of Christ, that Jesus was overwhelmed with grief for His fallen friend. However, upon encountering this view, I find it a whole lot more compelling. Here’s why. Firstly, as you stated in the blog it would seem odd for Christ to have all this emotion at that instant if it was only regarding the death of Lazarus considering He predicts this death (Phillip Long). If it were only about Lazarus’ death, it would stand to reason Jesus would be weeping as soon as He predicted the death, or even as He had received the news that Lazarus had been ill. Another reason this view holds more weight in my eyes is the consistency we see with God having emotion in the Old Testament when His people lack understanding. Take for example the Israelites making an idol after they give up on Moses returning in Exodus 32. In this case, the Israelites act according to their lack of understanding and faith, acting in sin and on their own wisdom, and the wrath of God is raised, needing for Moses to plead for Israel. If Jesus is acting in a similar way with Mary and Martha, it stands to reason that His divinity is being proved not only with power over life and death, but also a consistency of character with God.
When many look at the verse where Jesus wept, they tend to relate it to the death of Lazarus and the loss of his friend, but when looking at this on a deeper level it doesn’t really make much sense that Jesus would be crying over death when he is all-knowing and knows he was just going to Riase the dead man up from his death to life. More actually points to Jesus crying from the fact that he was angry and frustrated. The anger could have been from the actual symbol of death and how this has to be the way Jesus shows himself as the Messiah. The frustration could be from the facts of all the works he has already done for his disciples and for the people, and people were still in disbelief that he was the true messiah sent from God. I mean imagine doing all these amazing acts and miracles, and your closest friends were still at disbelief, i could see this being something so frustrating that would cause a tear.
Before this class and reading this blog post, I always assumed that Jesus was crying because He lost a dear friend. However, the thoughts presented in the blog seem more credible since He knew that Lazarus was going to die and that He had the power to raise him from the dead. Also, the different use of words is interesting as it distinguishes the wailing of the mourners to Jesus weeping. The use of language makes it appear as if His reasoning for being upset is different from the others. The other views presented are more likely and that He was either upset with the people’s unbelief as they thought He was unable to heal Lazarus after he died or because He was upset with Satan and death. Mary, Martha, and the disciples lacked understanding that Jesus was the Resurrection and Life which could have also been His reason for such an emotional response such as weeping. I had never heard these ideas before today and I found it intriguing that these perspectives are hardly ever discussed in churches, or at least the ones I have been to. The evidence that Jesus was not weeping for his dead friend is quite compelling and should be discussed more often.
John 11:35 is one of those verses I knew when I was younger just so I can brag that I know a lot of verses. It was easy to memorize because it is only two words. I, however, did not consider the meaning or context of the verse. The broader context shows Jesus arriving at Lazarus’ tomb, who had been dead for four days. Lazarus’ sisters; Mary and Martha are expressing their grief and expression by crying, but why is Jesus weeping when He knew He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead? I think both His humanity and divinity can be used to explain this reaction. I think he could have been weeping for the pain and suffering that those around Him are experiencing because Jesus does have deep compassion and empathy for human suffering. However, as mentioned in the blog, we are reminded that while the power of the coming age was present in Jesus’ ministry, the disciples and others seem to not fully understand His divinity and importance of His mission until after His resurrection. So Jesus is possibly weeping because the people do not seem to believe in Him, even though He is life (John 14:6).
It is interesting to me that this blog post points out what could be believed as Jesus real reason for weeping. Growing up I always assumed that Jesus had weeped because of the loss of a friend. It did not dawn on me that Jesus could have also have cried because of the lack of faith of own disciples. I think part of Jesus did mourn for his friends death because he was still fully human while being fully God but not in the way us as believers thought. Jesus whole purpose was to reveal his true divinity so that other may see him as the resurrection. I do believe that Mary and Martha had true faith in Jesus but I think that both of them showed how most humans react when someone they are close to or knows dies. Nevertheless`I believe their lack of patiences made them lash out on Jesus and push them responds to Lazarus death the way they did. In conclusion Jesus weeping is because they did not believe in him (John 11:25).