Even though this was part of God’s plan and Jesus was in control and orchestrated the entire event, Jesus wept because He saw that people were grieving.  Mary, Martha and those of the Jewish community were all openly upset.  The passage says that when Jesus saw them sobbing, He wept.  When you stop and consider that the God of the universe, the Lord of all creation, the omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent Eternal God shares in our sufferings and His heart breaks for us and with us, that is an amazing and humbling experience.  How do you not realize this and not bury your head in your chest, unable to even lift your head to heaven?  This event of Jesus weeping is an expression of love that is so foreign to who we are.  Not that our hearts don’t break when our loved ones are hurting, they certainly do, but think about the context.

Jesus could have said “why are you crying, don’t you know who I am?”  But He did not do that because love is not arrogant.  He could have said “stop your sniveling, check this out, I got this” but love does not brag.  He could have said “don’t cry to Me after you blamed Me for not being here to prevent his death” but love does not keep a record of wrong doings.  This is not who Jesus is.  Jesus wept because love bears all things; Jesus wept because love endures all things; Jesus wept because love is kind; Jesus wept because love does not act unbecomingly; Jesus wept because love hopes all things.  Jesus wept for the same reason that He came into this world, to seek and save those who are lost; Jesus wept for the same reason He can hang on a cross and utter “Father forgive them, they know not what they do.”  Jesus wept because He has a profound love for us that transcends this world and a compassion for our limitations, our lack of faith, our yearning for hope and our limited understanding.

Jesus wept has profound implications for us and who we are called to be.  When I consider why Jesus wept, it is overwhelming.  We are told to weep with those who weep, but that is the type of love that only comes from God.  It is almost 2 A.M. here in California and in about 13 hours I will be gathering with friends and family at a memorial service for my dad.  If the last ten days are any indication of what tomorrow will bring, I suspect there will be lots of weeping.  As I engage people tomorrow, my prayer will be to be mindful of why Jesus wept and ask God to show me how to genuinely share in their grief and be comforting.  John 11 has meant a lot to me during this time, because as I have privately mourned the loss of my dad, I have received some peace and I take solace in the fact that Jesus wept with me.