11:33
This verse causes much discussion. The ESV says that Jesus “was deeply moved in His spirit and greatly troubled”. There is considerable evidence to say that this translation (along with most English translations) is too soft, and that we should read it as Jesus being deeply angered. If we accept this then the question arises as to what Jesus’ anger is directed against. Some say it is the lack of faith of the people, but this does not seem likely. People die, people died when Jesus was around. Although Jesus had told His disciples that this would not end in death, He had not said this to Mary and Martha. The Bible is perfectly clear that death is a normal part of life. It could be anger at the fact that sickness and death reigns in the world because of the fall. It causes such pain and loss, and if only we had never sinned death would never have entered in. This seems a more likely explanation to me, but we cannot be certain.
11:34-37
Jesus then asks where they have laid Lazarus. They show Him the place and we then get the shortest verse in the Bible, “Jesus wept”. The following verse indicates that these were genuine tears of sorrow. Some see this as being at odds with the fact that Jesus was going to raise Lazarus from the dead in a very short while, but I see no such contradiction. Death is not the end, yet mourning is normal and healthy. Some were impressed with the depths of Jesus’ love for Lazarus, some saw it as an occasion to look down on Jesus because He did not save Lazarus from death.
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