John 11:33-37 - Jesus wept

11:33

There is disagreement over the interpretation of this verse. Jesus saw Mary and the companions who had followed her weeping. It then says He was “deeply moved in spirit and troubled”. The Greek word is rarely used in the New Testament and implies a strength of emotion. The debate is over whether it means He was deeply moved at the grief that Mary and others were experiencing, or that He was angry at their lack of faith. Charismatic preachers have a tendency to favour the latter, and it makes a good preaching point, but I don’t think it fits at all. First, as we will read alter, “Jesus wept”, and v36 implies that this was genuine sorrow at the death of Lazarus. Secondly, God does not expect us to be raising people from the dead all the time, and death is a normal part of the cycle of life, including Christian life. There will be occasional times when a miracle occurs, but this will not be the norm.

11:34-37

Jesus is taken to where Lazarus is laid, and then we get the shortest verse in the Bible, “Jesus wept.” The interpretation of this section depends upon how the previous section has been interpreted. If we take the line that Jesus is angry at the lack of faith of the people, then His weeping here is weeping in sorrow at their lack of faith. In favour of this is the fact that Jesus wept over Jerusalem at their lack of faith (Luke 19:41-44). However, as indicated earlier, I do not think this is the best way to interpret it. In the Luke passage itself it is Israel’s failure to recognise Jesus for who He is that is the cause of the deep sorrow. Here, the reaction of the crowd is consistent with Jesus weeping in sorrow at the death of Lazarus *(v36).

Now we might ask “why would Jesus weep when He knows He is going to raise Lazarus in a short while?”. Why indeed? God is going to transform all sorts of things in the future, but what happens now still matters, it is real and it is important. Lazarus’ death was real and was important. So I see no contradiction or problem in Jesus weeping in mourning for Lazarus.