Why Did Jesus Wept At Lazarus Death?

Why did Jesus weep knowing He would raise Lazarus?

The resurrection of Lazarus from the dead is considered to be the most magnificent of all the miracles that Jesus did.
Jesus’ humanity is demonstrated in the narrative.
When Jesus felt the sting of death, he cried, just as we do when we are grieved.
We also learn about His enormous love and compassion for His companions, which we can read about here.

We also learn about His reliance on His Father and his willingness to carry out God’s purpose, which is a significant and frequently forgotten aspect of the story.Let’s start with a look at the text, and then we’ll look at the question of why Jesus was crying.

John 11 – The Raising of Lazarus

In verse 1, Lazarus is referred to as ″a specific guy.″ He wasn’t just any dude, though.
Jesus had a soft spot for Lazarus, which was well-known to all around him.
Those words of his sisters, in a communication to Jesus, explain his condition: ″…Lord, see, the one whom You love is ill..″ (John 11:3).
When Jesus learned of Lazarus’ illness, He declared, ″This sickness is not for the death of Lazarus, but for the glory of God, in order that the Son of God may be exalted by it″ (John 11:4).

The cause of Lazarus’ illness is revealed in verse 4, and Jesus’ love is further demonstrated in verse 5: ″Jesus had a special affection for Martha, her sister, and Lazarus.″ According to the context of Jesus’ statements, ″this sickness is not unto death,″ it appears that Jesus recognized the purpose of Lazarus’ illness right away.It was not to be a witness to the curse of sin, or to the disease of the body that would eventually lead to death, but rather it was to be a witness to the glory of God.According to Jesus’ own words, ″so the Son of God may be exalted through it,″ it appears that He would demonstrate a power that only God possesses, namely, the ability to raise a body from the dead.Further in the text, it is said that Jesus chose to remain rather than go for Bethany.At John 11:6, we are not informed where Jesus was when he received word of Lazarus’ illness; all we know is that He stayed there for two more days and that Lazarus had already been dead for four days when He arrived in Bethany (John 11:39).

Although we do not know why Jesus delayed, the Jerusalem Talmud suggests one plausible explanation.It contains the following information: When a person dies, the spirit hovers above the body for the first three days, believing that it would eventually return to the body.When the soul notices that the appearance of the face has altered in the body, it departs the body and continues on its journey.

Yom 16:3 (Yebamot 16:3) Perhaps Jesus waited a while to present the people with proof that Lazarus had died so that they would believe that Jesus had resurrected him from the grave.
We do know that Jesus had to have been outside of Judea since, after the two-day delay, He stated to His followers, ″…let us go back into Judaea″ (John 11:7).
His followers then alerted Him of the danger He was in from those who were attempting to murder Him (John 11:8).

Jesus Goes to Bethany

During this time, Jesus discloses to His followers that Lazarus has died and that He would raise him from the dead.
He says, ″Our buddy Lazarus sleeps; but I go, that I may awaken him out of slumber″ (John 11:11).
Jesus was welcomed by Martha when He arrived in Bethany, and He told her, ″Your brother shall rise again″ (John 11:23).
When Jesus witnessed the anguish of those who had gathered to mourn the death of Lazarus, He broke down and cried (John 11:33-35) Even while we are all familiar with the remainder of the narrative, we sometimes overlook a key truth contained in verses 41-42.

John 11:41-42 (NIV)….″Father, I am grateful that You have heard Me,″ Jesus exclaimed as He elevated His gaze to the heavens.Moreover, I am aware that You are constantly aware of my presence, but I said this in order for the people who are standing nearby to think that You have sent Me.″ The night before He accomplished this miracle, Jesus praised His Father for hearing Him, and He spoke this out loud so that it would serve as a witness to the people who were in attendance.The first thing we should do when we approach to the Father with our prayers is to express our gratitude, knowing that He hears us and that, if He responds in any way, it is because He loves us.As soon as Jesus called out, ″Lazarus, come forth,″ Lazarus was lifted from his grave and went out, still bound in his burial cloths, to greet his friends and family.

In this case, it’s important to remember that Lazarus was resurrected from the dead in a mortal form, with his body still bound in death’s wrappings and still under the curse of death.″Loose him, and let him go,″ Jesus said, and so Lazarus was resurrected, although he would also die a second time in the future.When Jesus was risen from the dead, His burial cloths were left behind as a symbol of his victory.

He had triumphed over death.
It seemed as if death had lost its grip on Him.
When we ″die″ to ourselves and are raised to new life in Christ, we are ″loosed″ from the bonds of the grave and the sting of death, and we are free to live our lives as God intended.

Why did Jesus cry?

The fact that Jesus knew He would raise Lazarus from the dead is undeniable; thus, why did He mourn when He was informed of Lazarus’ death?
Jesus was a completely human being, and crying is a normal part of the human experience.
With the help of his poem, Washington Irving (1783-1859) gives an insight into the emotional response to tears.
A devoted Christian and author of novels and essays in the early nineteenth century, Washington Irving was a biographer, historian, and diplomat who served as a representative of the United States in Europe and Asia.

His remarks serve as a reminder that tears do indeed flow from the eyes, but that they do so from the depths of the heart’s feeling as well.Tears have a hallowed quality to them.They are not a sign of weakness, but rather of strength.They are more eloquent than a thousand different languages combined.They are the bearers of unbearable anguish, profound repentance, and unfathomable love, among other things.

— Theodore Washington Irving

Scripture Records Three Times When Jesus Wept

1) In this verse, Jesus grieved because He adored Lazarus, as well as Martha and Mary, who were present (John 11:5).
This exposes Jesus’ totally human character as well as the emotional sorrow of grieving that he went through during his life.
Funeral mourning is a profound human pain that we all experience when someone we love passes away, and Jesus knows this since He has gone through it Himself.
Jesus was also pained by the source of all physical death, which was the sin of the world.

Jesus wept in unspeakable love and overwhelming grief for His friends.

John 11:36 Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”

Jesus cried over Jerusalem in Luke 19:41, which is the second time it is recorded that he grieved in Scripture.
As a result of their transgression, God took away all He had given them, including the beautiful Garden and perfect fellowship with Him.
God, in His kindness, promised salvation and immediately began laying the groundwork for mankind’s deliverance.
It was God who raised up a people and gave them a territory that would be theirs, and it was God who established God’s city in that Promised Land, Jerusalem, which is known as the ″City of Peace.″ God first provided a garden for Adam and Eve, and then He provided His people with a city—a place to live, a city on a hill that would shine as a beacon across the country of Israel.

However, through their disobedience, Israel, like Adam and Eve, failed to maintain God’s city sacred and separate from the pagan global powers that surrounded it.In Luke 19:41, Jesus cried as he gazed out over God’s city, Jerusalem.

Jesus wept in unspeakable love and overwhelming grief for Jerusalem.

Luke 19:41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it.

A garden is the setting for the third instance of Jesus weeping recorded in the Bible. Jesus shed sweat ″like big droplets of blood,″ according to the disciples. While praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus, knowing that His time had come, ″wept″ in intense sorrow as His bodily body was torn apart by the cross.

Jesus wept in unspeakable love for man and overwhelming grief over the cost of man’s sin.

Luke 22:44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Jesus wept because He was human

In His humanity, Jesus experienced love, disappointment, loss, grief, and sadness–every human emotion that may cause tears to well up in the eyes of those who see it.
Furthermore, in His Godhead, Jesus is completely LOVE (1 John 4:8, 16).
Jesus’ love for us is endless, magnificent, unending, indescribable, and undeserved, and He expresses it to us in every possible manner, even via His tears, which we can read about here.

Jesus wept – why did Jesus weep?

Answer to the question It is implied that Jesus cried in two places in the Gospels and one place in the Epistles (Hebrews 5:7).
In the Gospels, our Lord grieved when He saw the plight of mankind, and both of these occurrences reflect our Lord’s (loving) human character, His compassion for humanity, and the life He promises to those who trust in Him.
When Jesus grieved, He demonstrated all of these characteristics.
Our Lord’s companion Lazarus died and was raised from the dead in John 11:1–45.

Lazarus was the brother of Mary and Martha and a friend of our Lord.When Jesus met with the sisters and others to lament Lazarus’s death, He wept (John 11:35), as did the disciples.The fact that Jesus did not mourn at Lazarus’ death was due to the fact that He knew Lazarus would be revived and eventually spend eternity with Him in heaven.Nonetheless, when confronted with the crying and tears of Mary, Martha, and the other mourners, He couldn’t help but cry out in response (John 11:33).The original wording suggests that our Lord cried ″quiet tears″ or tears of sympathy for His friends, according to the translation (Romans 12:15).

It seems likely that if Jesus had been present when Lazarus was dying, His compassion would have moved Him to intervene and heal His buddy (John 11:14–15).However, saving a death may be seen by some to be a ″chance situation″ or a ″small″ miracle, and now was not a moment to entertain any doubts about what had happened.As a result, Lazarus remained in death’s grave for four days until Jesus publicly raised him from the dead.

It was the Father’s desire for these witnesses to understand that Jesus was the Son of God, that Jesus had been sent by the Father, and that Jesus and the Father had the same intentions in everything (John 11:4, 40–42).
Only the one true God could have done such an incredible and stunning miracle, and it was through this miracle that the Father and the Son were glorified, and many people came to believe in them (John 11:4, 45).
When we read in Luke 19:41–44, the Lord is on His final journey to Jerusalem, just before He was crucified at the demand of His own followers, the same ones He came to save.
In an earlier statement, the Lord declared, ″O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that murders prophets and stones those who are sent to her!
What a number of times I want to gather your children together, much in the same way that a hen collects her brood beneath her wings, but you would not let it″ (Luke 13:34).
As our Lord neared Jerusalem and contemplated the plight of all those victims who had perished, ″He beheld the city and cried over it,″ the Bible says (Luke 19:41).

We know that Jesus grieved because the term ″wept″ is the same word used to describe the tears of Mary and the others in John 11:33, which means that he was distraught for the future of the city.In AD 70, more than 1,000,000 citizens of Jerusalem perished in one of the most brutal sieges in recorded history, which took place less than 40 years after the events of Apocalypse.Our Lord cried in two distinct ways in these two separate circumstances because the everlasting results were completely different in each instance.Because they trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus were granted eternal life; however, the majority of the people in Jerusalem did not believe and were consequently denied life.For Christians today, the same is true: ″Jesus replied to her, ‘I am both resurrection and life; he who believes in Me will live, even though he dies’″ (John 11:25).Questions regarding John can be found here.

Jesus cried – what caused Jesus to cry?

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Why did Jesus give way to tears prior to the resurrection of Lazarus, as described at John 11:35?

When a loved one passes away, it is normal for us to cry since we will miss him.
Because Lazarus died, Jesus did not shed tears, despite the fact that he had feelings for him.
Because of his sympathy for the grieving, as evidenced by the context of John’s testimony, he wept tears for them.
— John 11:36 is a passage from the Bible.

When Jesus initially learned that Lazarus was ill, he did not hurry to Lazarus’ bedside to administer first aid to the sick man.According to the narrative, ″after he learned that he was unwell, he actually stayed in the spot where he had been for two days.″ (See also John 11:6) What was the reason for Jesus’ delay?He was acting with a specific aim in mind.″This disease is not for the purpose of bringing about death, but rather for the glory of God, in order that the Son of God may be exalted through it,″ he explained.(See also John 11:4) Death was neither the ″goal″ of Lazarus’ illness, nor was it the final effect of his illness.

Lazarus’ death was to be used ″for the glory of God,″ according to Jesus.How?By reviving his good friend Lazarus from the dead, Jesus was about to execute a tremendous miracle on the earth.

During a conversation with his followers on this particular occasion, Jesus equated death to a condition similar to sleep.
That is why he informed them that he was ″journeying there in order to awaken from his sleep.″ (See also John 11:11) Raising Lazarus from the dead would be comparable to a parent waking up his or her kid from a slumber in Jesus’ eyes.
As a result, he had no cause to be distressed by Lazarus’ death in and of itself.
What, then, prompted Jesus to shed tears on the cross?
Once again, the solution is provided by the context.
After seeing Lazarus’ sister Mary and seeing her and others crying, Jesus ″groaned in the spirit and felt distressed,″ according to the Bible.

As a result of witnessing their anguish, Jesus became distressed to the point of ‘groaning in the spirit.’ It was for this reason that ″Jesus gave way to weeping.″ Being able to witness his loving ones bereaved brought Jesus deep sorrow.—John 11:33, 35, and elsewhere.It is demonstrated in this tale that Jesus has the power and ability to restore life and health to our loved ones in the coming new world.It also allows us to recognize that Jesus shares our sorrow for people who have suffered the loss of loved ones as a result of Adamic death.This narrative teaches us another important lesson: we should be compassionate toward individuals who are suffering the loss of a loved one.Jesus was well aware that he would be raising Lazarus from the dead.

Despite this, he broke down in tears, struck by his strong affection and compassion for his companions.In a similar vein, our empathy may lead us to ″cry with others who are crying.″ (See Romans 12:15.) A person’s expression of mourning does not imply a lack of belief in the resurrection’s possibility.How natural it was, therefore, for Jesus to provide an example of genuine sorrow for the bereaved by crying genuine tears even as he prepared to resurrect Lazarus from the dead.

Why did Jesus groan and weep when Lazarus died?

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John 11:33-35

″Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, He sighed in the spirit and was distressed,″ wrote John the apostle. And He inquired, ″Can you tell me where you buried him?″ ″Lord, please come and see,″ they urged to Him, and Jesus cried″ (John 11:33-35).

Jesus groaned in righteous indignation

Mary’s sobbing, as well as the weeping of Lazarus’s close relatives and friends, was a genuine expression of sadness; but, most of the other weeping was possibly the superficial wailing that is common at Oriental funerals.
A similar superficial lament of the professional wailers is reported in Mark 5:39 when Jesus enters and asks, ″Why are you making such a disturbance and weeping?
No, the youngster is not dead, but rather asleep.″ The word ″groaned″ is a slang term that simply means ″to blow″ or ″to sniff″ (Daniel 11:30).
The word ″and was worried″ (John 11:33), which is cited above, expresses the same idea.

Because of the apparent sadness of the Jews present, there is groaning, which indicates a confused mind and a painful emotional experience of righteous anger on their part.This same group of people who had cried out in agony would soon be demanding that He be executed, and Jesus knew it.

Jesus groaned over the destiny of the lost

Jesus moaned in the spirit as He thought about the people who had rejected His compassionate gift of redemption.
″Cast away from you all your trespasses, by which you have transgressed; and create you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will you perish, O house of Israel?″ said the prophet Ezekiel of God’s feelings toward His people.
(See Ezekiel 18:31 for further information.) However, the Lord is powerless to compel sinners to love Him.
They must answer to His love’s appeal by doing so.

Christ guarantees eternal life to everybody who believes in Him.As for those who welcomed Him, ″to as many as received Him, He granted the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name″ (John 1:12).However, it is the males themselves who are the deciding factor—″as many″ as receive and feel they are permitted access to son-ship (Isaiah 55:1; Ephesians 1:5; Revelation 22:17).

Jesus wept

Jesus, in His humanity, was struck by man’s anguish, and He grieved along with him in his grief.
It was therefore necessary for him to become like his brothers and sisters in all areas (Hebrews 2:17).
Having identified with mankind, ″he is able to succor those who are tempted″ as a result of His relationship with people (Hebrews 2:18).
It brings enormous consolation to Christians to know that Christ understands and sympathizes with their sufferings and problems.

I’m here to serve Him.Biblical Inquiry (BibleAsk) Team This post is also accessible in the following languages: (Hindi)

Why Jesus Wept

In the Bible, the shortest verse is John 11:35, which reads, ″Jesus wept.″ In spite of its grammatical simplicity, it is densely packed with incomprehensible intricacy.
After chatting with Lazarus’s heartbroken sisters, Martha and Mary, and witnessing all of the mourners, Jesus broke down and sobbed.
That appears to be a logical conclusion.
Except for the fact that Jesus had traveled to Bethany in order to revive Lazarus from the dead.

He knew that in a matter of minutes, all of this sorrow would be replaced by startled delight, followed by tears of laughing, and finally, praise and adoration.As a result, one would expect Jesus to be a confident, cheerful calm in the midst of the storm of sadness.His heart was ″much distressed″ (John 11:33), and he broke down and sobbed.Why?

1. Compassion for Suffering

One of the reasons is simply the overwhelming compassion that Jesus had for individuals who were in pain.
It is accurate to say that Jesus allowed Lazarus to die.
In contrast to the centurion’s servant, he did not postpone his arrival and instead spoke healing words from a distance to the centurion’s servant (Matthew 8:13).
His justifications were excellent, compassionate, and wonderful.

However, this did not imply that Jesus was unconcerned about the misery it caused.″For he does not torment or sorrow the children of mankind out of the goodness of his heart″ (Lamentations 3:33).The fact that Jesus always selects what would eventually bring the most glory to his Father (John 11:4) — and that this may involve hardship and anguish in some cases, as in Lazarus’s case — does not mean that Jesus takes pleasure in the agony and grief itself.Jesus, on the other hand, is sympathetic (Hebrews 4:15).And, as ″the image of the invisible God″ (Colossians 1:15), we have a glimpse of how the Father feels about the pain and sadness his children are experiencing through Jesus’ presence at Lazarus’ grave.

2. The Calamity of Sin

″Jesus’ tears give us a glimpse of the Father’s anguish for the loss of his children,″ says the narrator.
Jesus, like everyone else, cried at the tragedy of sin.
The deathblow was about to be delivered by Jesus, who was about to fulfill God’s promise to come into the world to destroy the devil’s works (see 1 John 3:8).
(1 Corinthians 15:26).

However, God is terribly grieved by sin, and the punishment for sin is death (Romans 6:23).And, ever since the fall of Adam and Eve, he had been subjected to the horrors of sin’s annihilation.Death had taken practically every human being he had ever produced in his time (all except Elijah and Enoch).It had already taken Lazarus, and it would take him again before it was all said and done.A mixture of angry and yearning tears were shed with Jesus’ grief-filled tears.

3. The Cost of Redemption

One of the other reasons for his mourning was the amount of money he was about to spend to secure not just Lazarus’s short-term resurrection, but also his everlasting life.
Everyone was aware of the impending crucifixion, but no one realized how much emotional turmoil Jesus was going through (Luke 12:50).
Lazarus’s resurrection would seem and be perceived as a gift of grace by him and everyone else who witnessed and experienced it.
But, well, it wasn’t completely free.

In order to obtain it, Jesus was going to endure a horrible death on the cross.Moreover, the most horrifying component was not the crucifixion itself, as inconceivable as it would have been by itself.He was dreaded the wrath of his Father on him.Jesus, who had never experienced sin, was going to become Lazarus’ sin, as well as the sin of everyone else who had or would believe in him, so that through him they would all become the righteousness of God, just as he had become the righteousness of God for them (2 Corinthians 5:21).He was looking forward to the happiness that had been prepared for him (Hebrews 12:2).

However, the truth of what lay in between weighed hard on my mind.

4. The Cause of His Own Death

Jesus’ tears may have been shed because he realized that resurrecting Lazarus would ultimately lead to the religious leaders taking action against him (John 11:45–53), which is a fourth possible explanation.
Throughout this tale, most of us are likely to be amazed by Jesus’ tremendous faith that his Father will respond to him.
We have such a low level of trust.
If Jesus had any doubts that day, it would not have been about whether or whether his Father would respond, but rather about what would happen if his Father did respond.

The act of summoning Lazarus from the grave would have required a different type of resolution on the part of Jesus than we may have expected.Giving Lazarus life was a way for Jesus to seal his own death.″Giving Lazarus life ensured Jesus’ own death,″ says the narrator.Just these few explanations for Jesus’s tears at Lazarus’s grave provide us with a look into God’s perspective on human suffering and death.His justifications for not sparing us from these calamities are just and wonderful.

However, he is filled with sympathy toward them (Psalm 103:13).He despises the tragedy that sin causes, and he himself has endured more suffering than we will ever be able to comprehend in order to pay the whole price for our everlasting salvation.″It is possible to weep through the night, but joy comes with the morning″ (Psalm 30:5).

That morning will bring with it the knowledge that ″death will be no more, nor shall there be sadness or weeping or anguish any longer″ (Revelation 21:4).

Jesus wept – Wikipedia

In the King James Version of the Bible, the phrase ″Jesus wept″ (Koin Greek: o, romanized: edákrusen ho Isoûs, pronounced) is the shortest verse, and it is also known for being the smallest verse in many other editions of the Bible.
In the native languages, it is not the shortest sentence.
It may be found in the Gospel of John, chapter 11, verse 35 of the New Testament.
Rober Estienne put verse breaks (also known as versification) into the Greek text in 1551 to make it easy for readers to quote and compare the passages with one another.

Context

This line appears in John’s account of the death of Lazarus of Bethany, a follower of Jesus who died in his sleep.
Despite the fact that Lazarus’s sisters, Mary and Martha, informed Jesus of their brother’s illness and imminent death, Jesus did not appear until four days after Lazarus’s death.
After speaking with the bereaved sisters and witnessing Lazarus’ companions sobbing, Jesus was greatly concerned and touched by the events.
Jesus grieved after learning where Lazarus had been put to rest and being invited to come see for himself.

He then proceeded to the tomb and instructed the people to remove the stone that had been placed over it.He then prayed openly to his Father and commanded Lazarus to emerge from the tomb, having been resuscitated.In addition, according to Luke’s narrative, Jesus cried when he approached Jerusalem before his trial and execution, as he anticipated the destruction of the Temple.

Text

Translation	Text
Biblical Greek	ἐδάκρυσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς. edákrusen ho Iēsoûs.″Jesus shed tears.″
Peshitta	ܘܐܵܬ݂ܝܵܢ ܗ̄ܘܲܝ̈ ܕܸܡ̈ܥܵܘܗܝ ܕܝܼܫܘܿܥ. Wʾatiyan hway demʿawhy d-Yushwoʿ.″And the tears of Jesus came.″
Vulgate	Et lacrimātus est Iēsus″And Jesus wept.″
Luther Bible	Und Jesus gingen die Augen über.″And the eyes of Jesus overcame.″
ASV, Darby Bible, ERV, ESV, HCSB, KJV, NASB, NET, NIV, NJB,NKJV,NLT (pre-2005 version), RSV, Recovery Version, WEB, YLT	″Jesus wept.″
Bible in Basic English	″And Jesus himself was weeping.″
God’s Word	″Jesus cried.″
The Message	″Now Jesus wept.″
New American Bible, Douay–Rheims Bible	″And Jesus wept.″
New Living Translation (2005 Version)	″Then Jesus wept.″
New Revised Standard Version	″Jesus began to weep.″
CJB	″Yeshua cried,″
The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures	″Jesus gave way to tears.″

Interpretation

Significant significance has been ascribed to Jesus’s intense emotional response to his companions’ sobbing and his own tears, which includes the following statements: When Christ weeps, it proves that he was a genuine man with actual physiological functions (such as tears, sweat, blood, eating and drinking—take notice, for example, of the emphasis placed on Jesus’ eating during his post-resurrection appearances). His feelings and reactions were genuine
Christ was not a figment of his imagination or a ghost (see the heresy of Docetism). During a discussion of the two natures of Jesus, Pope Leo the Great quoted this passage: ″In His humanity, Jesus wept for Lazarus
in His divinity, he raised him from the dead.″
The sorrow, sympathy, and compassion Jesus felt for all of humanity
The rage Jesus experienced in response to the tyranny of death over mankind
Although spectators understood Jesus’ tears as a sign that he was in love with Lazarus (verse 36), Witness Lee believed that the Jews’ interpretation was illogical in light of Jesus’ desire to raise Lazarus from the dead. As an alternative, Lee suggested that every individual to whom Jesus spoke in John 11 (his followers as well as Martha, Mary, and the Jews) was blinded by their own preconceptions. Because even those closest to him were unable to realize that he was, as he stated in verse 26, ″the resurrection and the life,″ Jesus’ spirit ″groaned″ as a result. Last but not least, he ″wept in sympathy with their sadness for Lazarus’ death″ at the gravesite.

In history

The tears of Jesus have been identified as one of the relics ascribed to Jesus.

Use as an expletive

In some parts of the English-speaking world, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland (especially Dublin and Belfast), and Australia, the phrase ″Jesus cried″ is a mild profanity that is frequently used when something goes wrong or to convey surprise.
It may also be used sarcastically to indicate uncaring indifference to someone else’s perceived terrible circumstances or self-pity, as in the phrase During the state visit of Elizabeth II to West Germany in 1965, broadcaster Richard Dimbleby made the mistake of accidently using the curse live on air.
It is frequently employed as an expletive in the works of author Stephen King’s books.
In his book On Writing, he explains that when he was in primary school, he was required to memorize a passage from the Bible, and he chose ″Jesus cried″ since it was a simple verse to remember.

Others who have used it as an expletive in their works include Neil Gaiman in the Sandman series, Bernard Cornwell in the Sharpe series, David Lodge in Nice Work, Mike Carey in the Hellblazer series and The Devil You Know, Peter F.Hamilton in The Night’s Dawn Trilogy, Mark Haddon in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Dan Simmons in the Hyperion Cantos, Minette Walters in Fox Evil, Eliza Griffiths in the Dr Ruth Gall The use of this phrase can be seen in films and television shows such as Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Get Carter (1971), Razorback (1984), Hellraiser (1987), The Stand (1994), Michael Collins (1996), Dogma (1999), Notes on a Scandal (2006), True Blood (2008), Cranford (2008), The Bank Job (2008), Call the Midwife (2013), Community (2015), The Magnificent Seven (2016 film), The Haunting of Hill House (TV series) (2018), Derry Girls (2018),

References

Job 3:2 is the shortest Bible verse according to the New International Version (NIV). In contrast to the King James Version, which reads ″And Job spake and said,″ the New International Version simply says ″He said.″ Following the Westcott and Hort text, the shortest verse in the Greek New Testament is Luke 20:30 (″and the second,″ ″and the third,″ ″and the fourth,″ and ″and the fifth,″ according to the Westcott and Hort version). Genesis 26:6 is the shortest verse in the whole Pentateuch, and it also has the fewest characters in the original Hebrew. In the original Hebrew, the shortest verse in the Hagiographa, 1 Chronicles 1:25, contains only nine characters.
In John 11:1–45, we read that Jesus is the Son of God. Luke 19:41
″Jesus Christ as a Human Being Made of Flesh and Blood.″ Bibletools.org.
retrieved on April 16, 2018
The emotional life of Jesus is explored in detail in the book of John. B. B. Warfield was an American author and poet who lived during the early twentieth century.
Observer 2nd section of Chapter 23 of Lee’s Life-Study of John (retrieved by searching for ″wept″ in Life-Study of John) Witness Lee (1985), Life-Study of John, Living Stream Ministry, p. PT272, ISBN 978-0736350402
Lee, Witness (1985), Life-Study of John, Living Stream Ministry, p. PT272, ISBN 978-0736350402
Interview with Joe Nickell, August 2000, in the Joe Nickell Files: The Shroud of Turin Archived 2008-12-23 at the Wayback Machine. Other resources include the Peevish.co.uk dictionary of slang and the Aussie slang website, Dagree.net. Newcomb, Horace (2004). The Encyclopedia of Television (second edition). ISBN 9781579583941. Published by Routledge on page 712. Obtainable on the 31st of March, 2015.

External links

Oliver, Simon
Milbank, John
Book of John, Chapter 11
King James Bible
Oliver, Simon
Milbank, John ″The Verse with the Fewest Words.″ Verses from the Bible. Darren Haran, representing the University of Nottingham

3. Jesus wept for his coming suffering.

Jesus grieved because Lazarus’ death and resurrection were a mirror image of His own death and resurrection.
Jesus was well aware that he would die and be buried within a short period of time.
He was well aware that, like Lazarus, he would finally triumph over death and rise from the grave, but he also recognized that it would be an extraordinarily tough path to go.
When Jesus was nearing the end of His life, he prayed: ″And he exclaimed, ‘Abba, Father, anything is possible for you.’″ Please take this cup away from me.

Nevertheless, it is not what I will, but what you will.″ (Matthew 14:36) He didn’t want to die on the cross, but He did desire to bring glory to His Father in the process of doing so.We may mourn from time to time in this sinful world, but we have a greater hope in Jesus Christ.According to Psalm 126:5-6, ″Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of gladness.″ ‘He who goes out crying, bearing the seed for sowing, will return home with joyous cries, bringing his sheaves with him.’ Jesus had to suffer; He had to bear the burden of suffering.He had to weep so that one day we wouldn’t have to do the same thing.According to Revelation 21:4, ″He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,″ and ″death, sorrow, weeping, and suffering will no longer be,″ since ″the old things have gone away.″ Save this free PDF to your phone for future reference.

Begin by participating in the 30-Day Thankfulness Prayer Challenge and praying for gratitude to bloom in your heart!Related: It is Completed: The Message of Jesus’ Last Words is a Profound One Prayer for the Feast of the Resurrection The Resurrection Scriptures and the Easter Bible Verses Bible Verses for Good Friday A wife and stay-at-home mom, Christina Patterson has a strong desire to inspire and uplift other women through the love of Jesus Christ and the truth of God’s Word.When she isn’t folding laundry or building with blocks, you may find her with her nose buried in her Bible or a commentary on the Scriptures.

Beloved Women is a non-profit organization that provides tools and fellowship for women to fully know who they are in Christ: His Beloved.
She received her master’s degree in theology from Liberty University and is the creator of the organization.
She has a blog at belovedwomen.org.
Photograph courtesy of Rodolfo Clix / Pexels

Why Did Jesus Weep?

On a number of instances in the Bible, Jesus wept and cried out in sorrow.
As a result, it seems reasonable to question ourselves, ″Why did Jesus cry and lament?″ According to the New Testament, there were times when Jesus cried and also times when He was depressed and despondent.
The topic of why Jesus wept and lamented appears to be a natural one to ask ourselves at this point.
What was it that made the Savior so depressed?

What lessons may we take away from Christ’s agony?

Jesus wept because of man’s sin and the death it brought.

In order to avoid bringing Lazarus to death, Jesus delayed his visit to him when he was unwell.
Although Jesus had the ability to cure Lazarus (even from a distance), He informed His followers that He was relieved He was not there to assist them.
Jesus foreshadowed the Resurrection that He would accomplish as a sign to His followers in order for them to believe (John 11:11–15), and He predicted that they would believe.
Our Lord and Savior obviously displayed this sort of empathy in this instance, as we read that we are to grieve with those who mourn in the Bible.

But why did Jesus weep when he arrived in Bethany and saw Lazarus’ relatives and companions mourning (John 11:33–35)?Was it because he was sad?He very obviously aware that Lazarus would shortly be restored to life; in fact, it was for this reason that He had traveled to Bethany.Clearly, Jesus was moved by the sadness of his personal friend Mary, as well as the anguish of the rest of the Jews who were mourning alongside her and her sister Martha.When we read in Romans 12:15 that we are to grieve with those who mourn, we can plainly see that our Lord and Savior exhibited this type of empathy in this situation.

According to John 11:35–38, however, Jesus was still crying and moaning within Himself, this time in response to death itself and the incredulity of the crowds around Him.Although Jesus had promised Martha that Lazarus would rise from the dead, and many of the Jews there had presumably witnessed Jesus perform miracles, they were perplexed as to why He had not intervened to prevent one of His closest friends from dying.Jesus was well aware that some people would believe in Him from this point forward, but that many others would continue to doubt Him and even report His miracle to the Pharisees.

As in the case of the man who was raised from the dead in Luke 16:19–31, there were many who refused to believe despite having seen him rise from the dead.
Although John 11:35 does not specify why Jesus wept, we may deduce one explanation from the context: Jesus was pained over the death that resulted as a result of humanity’s sin.
For example, ″the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ″Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but you shall not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil,″ because ″in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die,″ is found in Genesis 2:16–17.
Similarly, ″of every tree of the garden you may freely eat″ is found in Genesis 2:8–9.
In response to Adam’s direct disobedience, God punished all of mankind, beginning with him, by commanding them to ″eat bread in the sweat of your brow till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return″.
(See Genesis 3:19.) As the Apostle Paul put it, ″Therefore, just as sin entered the world via one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men since all sinned,″ sin and death are inextricably linked (Romans 5:12).

Furthermore, in Romans 6:23, Paul states unequivocally that ″the penalty of sin is death.″ As Christians, we tend to lose sight of the fact that death is an adversary.It is true that when a believer passes away, we do not grieve like others who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13), yet we must keep in mind that death is an unnatural occurrence.It is not something that God made, but rather something that occurred as a result of Adam’s sin and disobedience.In Paul’s vision of a future time when death will be no more, let us remember and take heart: Because He must reign until all of His adversaries have been crushed under His feet.To be sure, death is the final adversary to be defeated…This will be come to pass when this corruptible has been transformed into an incorruptible being and this mortal has been transformed into an immortal being, as it is written: ″Death is swallowed up in triumph.″ ″Where has your sting gone, Death?″ ″Where has your victory gone, Hades?″ Death’s sting is sin, and the law’s power is sin.

The law is the sting of death.(1 Corinthians 15:25–26, 54–56) 1 Corinthians 15:25–26 When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, he provided a glimpse of the final victory over death.Jesus possessed the ability to revive the dead, and shortly after, He went to the Cross in order to destroy death for all time.

Death has been overcome (2 Timothy 1:10), and it will be annihilated permanently on the final day of judgment (Revelation 20:14).Most likely, the tale of Jesus sobbing at the gravesite of Lazarus is just another proof of God’s anguish for our sinfulness.Jesus was well aware that some would not believe.He was well aware that the Pharisees would now intensify their efforts to assassinate Him.He was well aware that everyone in the room (including Lazarus once more) would die physically as a result of Adam’s sin and their own transgression.However, despite the fact that He was on His way to Calvary to be the sacrifice for our sin, He was well aware that the effects of our sin would remain until the time when He presents ″a new heaven and a new earth″ (Revelation 21:1).

Especially a cursory look through the Bible reveals several instances in which God was and continues to be pained by the conduct of humans in general, and even Christians: Afterward, the Lord observed that man’s iniquity was widespread across the land, and that every aim of his heart was continuously filled with evil intents and thoughts.Moreover, the Lord was remorseful that He had created man on the world, and He was pained within Himself.(Genesis 6:5–6) (Genesis 6:5) As a result, the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying, ″I deeply regret having appointed Saul as king, for he has turned away from obeying Me and has failed to carry out My commands.″ Samuel was distressed by this, and he cried out to the Lord throughout the night.(See 1 Samuel 15:10–11 for further information.) Don’t offend the Holy Spirit of God, who sealed you for the day of redemption and will not allow you to grieve him.

(See also Ephesians 4:30.)

Jesus wept over Jerusalem and grieved over mankind’s hard hearts.

Jesus was well aware that the majority of people would reject Him, precisely as had been predicted in Isaiah 53:3–4.
Also, Jesus was well aware that the Romans would destroy the city of Jerusalem, demolish the Temple, and slaughter a large number of people (Matthew 24:2; Luke 21:20–24; John 18:36–38).
As a result, Jesus mourned for their hardness of heart, knowing that He did not want them to perish but rather that He wanted them to turn to Him (Luke 15:7).
However, God makes it plain that He desires individuals to turn away from their sin and live, rather than dying as a result of it (Ezekiel 33:11).

He observed the city and mourned over it as He got closer, saying, ″If you had known, even you, particularly in this your day, the things that contribute to your tranquility!However, they are now concealed from your view.As a result, there will come a time when your enemies will construct an embankment around you, surround you, and shut you in on all sides, razing you and your children to the ground; and they will not leave a single stone unturned in you because you did not anticipate the time of your visitation.″ (See also Luke 19:41–44) The Jewish authorities of that time had perverted Scripture to such an extent that they regarded healing someone to be a breach of the Sabbath.Because they were attempting to ″build their own righteousness,″ they had overlooked the more serious elements of the law, such as ″justice and kindness and faith″ (Matthew 23:23), in an attempt to ″establish their own righteousness″ (Romans 10:3): When they inquired, He said, ″Is it permissible on the Sabbath to do good or evil, to preserve life or to kill?″ They, on the other hand, remained mute.Then, when He had gazed about at them with rage, pained by the hardness of their hearts, He turned to the man and said, ″Stretch out your hand.″ After that, he stretched his hand out, and his hand was returned to its full strength.

(Matthew 3:4–5) Jerusalem had often heard the Word of God spoken through the lips of prophets, warning them to repent, turn away from their sins, and follow the Lord, but they had chosen to ignore it.But because they refused to repent, Jesus was enraged and reprimanded them, saying, ″O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!When I wished to bring your children together, like a mother gathers her young beneath her wings, you would not let me to.″ Jesus said this in Luke 13:34; see also Matthew 23:37.

Jesus foresaw that his disciples and followers would face persecution as a result of His teachings in the years to come (Matthew 23:34).
However, to persecute Christ’s disciples is to persecute Him, since He identifies with and sympathizes with us in such a profound way (Hebrews 4:15).
Consequently, Jesus addressed Saul of Tarsus and demanded to know why he was persecuting Him, saying, ″Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?″ (See Acts 9:4–5)

We should weep over our sin.

Having an understanding of some of the things that pain our Lord should cause us to weep and be grieved about a number of different things as well.
For example, we should mourn over our sin and show sorrow for having offended a holy and just God by our actions.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul demonstrated this form of godly sadness when he wrote: I discover then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who desires to do good.
Because the law of God, according to the interior man, is something I enjoy.

In my members, however, I see another law at work, one that is at conflict with the law of my mind and that is leading me into captivity to the law of sin that is at work in my members.Oh, what a miserable human being I am!Who will be the one to extricate me from this corpse of death?(See also Romans 7:21–24.) As the psalmist put it: ″For You do not want sacrifice, or else I would offer it; You do not delight in burnt offering.″ When we do sorrow over our sin in humility, the Lord will not reject us, as the psalmist wrote: ″A shattered spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—these, O God, You will not disdain,″ says Psalm 51:16–17 of the sacrifices of God.″But on this one will I look,″ God declares in Isaiah 66:2, ″on him who is poor and of a contrite soul, and on him who trembles at My command.″

We should weep over the sin of fleshly living.

When it comes to becoming Christians, we must be on the lookout for our own proclivity to sow to our own flesh rather than to the Spirit (Galatians 6:7–9), and we must be ready to heed the instruction in James 4:8–10 to grieve over sin: Bring yourself closer to God, and He will come closer to you.
Remove the filth from your hands, you sinners, and cleanse the filth from your souls, you hypocrites.
Weep, lament, and beg for mercy!
Allow your pleasure to be converted into grief and your laughter to be turned into darkness.

Put yourself in a lowly position in the face of the Lord, and He will elevate you up.As a result, it is our responsibility to shed tears as we warn people about false instructors and hedonistic imposters who pose as Christians while in truth, they are enemies of Jesus Christ.Another example of this answer was provided by the Apostle Paul in a manner that we should aspire to imitate: For many walk, of whom I have told you many times, and whom I now tell you even in tears, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who have their minds set on earthly things—who have their hearts set on anything but Christ.Because our citizenship is in heaven, where we are also anxiously awaiting the return of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.(Philippians 3:18–20; Philippians 3:18–20)

We should weep over the sin of complacency and syncretism.

God does not want us to live a life of syncretism, which is the practice of combining God’s worship with fleshly behaviors and spiritual idolatry in one life.
God desires for us to worship Him in spirit and in truth, as well as to live a holy life (2 Corinthians 6:16–18), according to the Bible.
It is necessary for us to throw aside the weight of sin that so readily besets us (Hebrews 12:1), and it is necessary for us to purify and purge ourselves everyday by repenting of our sin (Hebrews 12:2).
(2 Corinthians 7:1; 1 John 1:9).

We must continually monitor ourselves for signs of complacency.Remember that God threatened to ″vomit out″ lukewarm Christians in the church of Laodicea (Revelation 3:15–16) if they didn’t repent.And in accordance with this, there are moments when we must bear and demonstrate godly grief in order to bring about repentance: Because godly grief results in repentance that leads to salvation, and it is not to be regretted, but the sorrow of the world results in death.As an example, consider the exact item over which you were sorrowful in a godly manner: what diligence it generated in you, what purification of yourself, what wrath, what terror, what fervent desire, what enthusiasm, what vindication it brought about!In this situation, you have demonstrated your ability to think clearly under pressure.

(See 2 Corinthians 7:10–11 for further information.)

May we have a heart like His!

Reading John 11:35, the shortest sentence in the English Bible, we are typically struck by the humanity of Jesus, who is the central figure.
Perhaps we can now look at this verse in a fresh way and evaluate the divinity of Jesus as a result of this revelation.
Because of the hardness of people’s hearts and the wickedness that surrounded him, Jesus, in his human form, was sobbing.
In his tears, Jesus lamented the fact that mankind was still under the curse of death and that the final adversary of mankind had not yet been defeated.

The Lord, however, was not impotent; He possessed the ability to defeat death, and by His death, burial, and Resurrection, He has also transformed believers into more than conquerors over sin and death (Romans 6:9–1; 8:37–39).As Christians, we look forward to the good hope (Titus 2:13) that when Christ returns, we will be raised to life along with Him (1 Corinthians 15:22).We may look forward to an eternity where, through trust in Christ, He will wipe away all tears and there will be no more grief one day (Revelation 21:4).For the time being, however, while we are here on this planet, fighting with death and grief, we must put aside every burden, as well as the sin that so quickly besets us (Hebrews 12:1).Let us follow in our Lord’s footsteps and shed appropriate tears for the things that cause Him to mourn.

In the face of our own sin (Psalm 51:17; Isaiah 66:2), may we resolve to have a contrite heart, and may we resolve to bear a load for the sake of those who are lost.May we all have a heart as big as His!