What Makes God Weep?

John 11:35 is the shortest verse in all of the Bible. It contains only two words, yet it is one of the most intriguing verses in all of Scripture. In this verse, we see a rare glimpse into the emotions of Christ. Here the Son of God weeps. He doesn’t just shed a tear; it is a deep sorrow that involves a groaning within Himself. What is it that could make Him so sorrowful that He would react this way?

A casual reading of the passage would suggest that sorrow was due to the death of His friend Lazarus. However, upon further investigation, we see that this really isn’t the case. In His omniscience, our Lord knew that Lazarus was sick and was going to die as a result. When word of Lazarus’s sickness was sent to the Lord Jesus, He intentionally stayed where He was and waited until Lazarus had died, and probably even been buried, before leaving for Bethany.

Jesus planned ahead of time to go and raise Lazarus from the dead. He even told His disciples this: “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may awake him out of sleep” (Jn. 11:11). As was so often the case, the disciples didn’t quite get what He was saying. They took him literally, so He bluntly told them, “Lazarus is dead” (v. 14). That should have signaled to them that not only was Lazarus literally dead, but that Jesus meant to go and raise him from the dead. The imminent resurrection of Lazarus was no cause for sorrow.

Another possible reason for our Lord’s display of emotion could have been the pain that some of His closest friends were experiencing. He may have been filled with empathy for them, which led to this release of tears. However, when the passage is taken as a whole, a different reason emerges. Throughout the whole chapter there is a common thread. It isn’t the death of Lazarus, it is the unbelief that surrounds our Lord.

Unbelief

It started even before the Lord left for Bethany. His disciples didn’t get the hint that Christ was going to raise Lazarus from the dead. They seemed more concerned with the fact that the Jews were out to kill the Lord. After all, in the previous chapter, you see that they went to where they were because the Jews had tried to stone Him.

It wasn’t only the Lord’s safety that they were worried about. When Jesus announced His intention to go into Judea, Thomas said resignedly, “Let us go and die with Him” (v. 16). That is not exactly a ringing endorsement. The thought the Jesus could actually raise Lazarus from the dead hadn’t entered his mind.

Once they reached Bethany, the trend continued. Martha, Lazarus’s sister, came to the Lord and said, “if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died” (v. 21). The implication was that it was then too late for the Lord to help.1

Doubt and unbelief were everywhere. When Mary arrived, she made the same statement Martha had made with the same implication: now that her brother was dead, there was nothing that could be done. It is at this point that we begin to see the emotions of our Lord. It was when He saw the sorrow of Mary and of those around her that He first “groaned within His Spirit and was troubled” (v. 33). After He asked where they had laid the body, He began to weep Himself.

So what was it that made the Lord weep? Perhaps it was simply empathy for these people He loved, but it appears that there was also the issue of unbelief.

Greater faith and glory

These people had seen the Lord do other miracles, including raising the dead. Why were they unable to conceive that He was able to bring this man back to life, too? It might be due to the length of time that Lazarus had been dead. Many Jews at that time believed that the soul of a person hovered over the body for a period of three days after they had died before departing. Now that Lazarus had been dead for four days, the soul had surely departed and could not be reunited with the body.

This is why our Lord waited to go to Bethany. He had a point to prove: He was the Lord of life and the Master of death. He wasn’t merely going to do what they thought impossible; He was going to perform the unfathomable—just as the apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:20, “unto Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we as or think.”
None of these people had even considered the possibility that Jesus could raise this man from the dead. His disciples hadn’t; His closest friends hadn’t; certainly the crowd around Him hadn’t. Therefore, they began to verbalize this unbelief. In verse 37 we read, “Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?” Their unbelief turned into blame. If He were such a great healer, why hadn’t He done anything?

Of course, we know how the story ends. Christ had the stone removed, and then He prayed, “Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me. And I knew that Thou hearest Me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me” (vv. 41f). Finally, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” and Lazarus came out of the tomb

Before we are too hard on the people in this passage, we must ask ourselves how many times we doubt that our Lord can do what is impossible for us. Do we really have confidence that He can do “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think”? We can grieve the heart of God by our own unbelief, even if it might not be as dramatic as this situation.
In our everyday lives, do we show our faith by believing that God can act in extraordinary ways? Imagine what God would do through us if we actually lived in a manner that reflected unreserved faith in Him! As we see in this passage, God will accomplish His will with or without our belief. It just brings more joy both to Him and to us if we trust Him wholeheartedly.

May we be more like Martha, who is often maligned for her statements in chapter 12. May we say even in our times of despair, “but I know even now, whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it to Thee.” She held out that sliver of faith even in her darkest times. God will reward that faith and use it for His glory.

1 Although, when you read this portion, you see that Martha may have been the only one who believed that Jesus could do something. She followed her first statement with, “but I know that whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give Thee” (v. 22).