The verse in question is one that just about every Bible student, from the very old to the very young, knows by heart. Though it’s not always remembered where it is found, and many who can recite it might not know the circumstances of it, just about everyone can quote it as long as you give them the prompt: What’s the shortest verse in the Bible?
Jesus wept.
(John 11:35)
Jesus’ entire ministry was based around one concept: Salvation. That salvation is expressed in a number of different ways and with a number of different terms: Redemption, justification, living bread and water, etc. The most fitting here is the idea of “eternal life.” Jesus is the giver of life and here He comes face to face with His primary antagonist: “death.”
Death affects us all because man sinned against God (Romans 5:12). Jesus’ mission is to undo sin, and in so doing, remove the power which sin wields over us: death. Thus, Jesus’ salvation message is evangelized as “eternal life to all who believe.” That was Jesus’ statement of comfort to Martha earlier (v25-26).
And yet here, in this moment of great triumph, just before the Lord does a remarkable miracle, one which will enrage His enemies, enthrall His followers, and elate His friends, the Lord’s reaction is to cry. Jesus wept, John tells us in the shortest verse of the English Bible. Why does He weep? He has already groaned at the sight of Mary’s weeping. If that had been the reason for His crying, John surely would have said it in v33. Instead, John includes the statement on its own in response to being told where Lazarus was buried. In other words, John specifically tells us that Jesus wept just before beginning His journey to visit the grave (and raise His friend from death).
Could that be why He was weeping? Just as Jesus was uniquely aware of the long-standing sting of death, He was also aware of the bliss that awaits those who cross over from life here to life there, via death. A faithful child of God who dies, leaves his body behind to be buried, and is carried by angels into the paradise of God (Luke 16:22). Jesus is about to show His power over death but at the expense of pulling a faithful child out of the pleasure of paradise.
I’d cry too if I knew what Lazarus was leaving behind!
Whatever the reason, Jesus wept. That’s the truth. Jesus wept. That’s the reality of humanity. We suffer loss, we mourn, we weep. Jesus felt those things. Jesus lived those things. He wept too. But unlike me, Jesus has the power to make it better. Loss will become gain, mourning will become mirth, and weeping tears of sadness will become weeping tears of joy.
~Matthew