Suffering, Sorrow, and Love in John 11

 The Place: Bethany (more or less)  The Occasion: Lazarus’s funeral  The Characters:  Jesus  His disciples  Martha, sister of Lazarus  Mary, sister of Lazarus  Many mourners  Verse 35: A surprising development in the account of Jesus’s greatest triumph yet

 Let’s take a closer look at how Jesus responds to:  Martha (vv ) ▪ He offers her hope and reassurance ▪ He explains more about who He is ▪ He prompts her to profess faith  Mary and the many mourners (vv ) ▪ He is troubled and deeply moved by their sadness ▪ He asks where they’ve laid His friend ▪ He weeps

 My Question: Why does Jesus weep in v. 35?  He had many reasons not to weep:  He had already predicted the outcome  He knew God had something good in mind  He had both the power and the prerogative to bring Lazarus back from the very jaws of death

 This sickness won't end in death (11:4a)  Spoken to his disciples.  Lazarus has fallen asleep; I'm going to wake him up (11:11-14)  The disciples misunderstand.  Your brother will rise again (11:23)  Martha misunderstands, too, but Jesus explains further.

 This will be for God's glory (11:4b)  Jesus delayed His coming on purpose (11:5-7)  The Father led him to do this -- see also John 5:19-21  My opinion: This was to ensure Lazarus was good and dead.  Jesus had faith in God's plan and timing despite other people's opinions of it:  “You're going too soon” (11:8, 14-6)  “You didn't come soon enough” (11:21, 32, 37)

Jesus knew that:  This is why God allowed the sickness to occur (11:4)  This was why he was being called back to Bethany (11:11-15)  He himself was the resurrection and the life, for Lazarus and everyone else (11:23-27)  God would hear and honor his request, because this was all the Father’s plan to begin with (11:41-42)

 We often weep from:  Lack of control  Overwhelming despair  Utter hopelessness  Jesus had none of these reasons.  He knew the outcome would be the best one possible.  And yet He still wept.

 Jesus was sad that Lazarus had died  Seeing the sorrow of Mary and the other mourners moved Him to tears  He felt and understood the pain of others  He was human, complete with our emotional complexities and capacity for sorrow  Perhaps He was also weeping for more than just Lazarus, or Mary, or Martha…  He loved these people

 Crying isn’t a sin  Weeping with others can be a service of love  Don’t assume you know what’s going on in God’s plans  Don’t assume you know what’s going on in other people’s hearts  Intellectual answers aren’t an antidote for sorrow