Jesus Wept

To say that we have an uncomfortable relationship with death is an understatement to the extreme. As one man said, death is the dark corner at the far end of the corridor that no one can see, but we must all pass through. We cannot stop death from coming any more than we can stop next Tuesday. Death is ugly, it is unknown, we are afraid of it, and no one likes to talk about it. In fact, you are probably having second thoughts about finishing this essay. But please hang in there, because there is hope at the end of the corridor.

Death may be normal, but it is not natural. Something in the very core of our being rises up in protest and revulsion at death. Death should not be! But it is. Like a nightmare that no one can escape, death is a reality, and the day will come when we will lose everyone we love, unless they lose us first. There is no human court on earth that can put a stay on our day of execution. And so we wait, and try not to think about it. We recoil and protest at the thought of death because this is not the world as God created it. We were not meant to die, and somehow, deep down, we know this. We know that we were made for eternity.

Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.-- Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NLT)

So why is there death? According to the Scriptures, the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). We are fallen creatures who live in a fallen world, and our sin has separated us from God, the Author of life (John 3:19-20, Romans 3:10-12, Acts 3:15, Psalm 36:9). Every sin that has a beautiful veneer on the outside ends in the ugliness of death.

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In John 11, we encounter death through a man named Lazarus, and his sisters Mary and Martha. We can identify with them can’t we? Lazarus had taken ill and the sisters sent word to Jesus. But Jesus delayed His coming and their worst fears became a reality -- Lazarus died. When Jesus finally arrived in Bethany, Mary and Martha are grief-stricken over losing their brother. Can you feel their pain? Anyone who has lost a loved one understands their grief.

The scene is that of a funeral, and there is sorrow upon sorrow. We might be tempted to think that Jesus would be unmoved and float above it all, but we would be wrong. Far from being stoic, Jesus is also grieved. John 11:35 is the shortest verse in all of Scripture, and it simply reads, "Jesus wept."

Jesus wept, but why did He weep? Ask five different commentators and you'll probably get at least three different answers. Why did Jesus weep? Did He weep because of what sin has done to the world? Did He weep over the grief of His dear friends Mary and Martha? Why did He weep knowing that He was about to call His friend Lazarus from the grave? Maybe He wept for all of these reasons. Maybe He wept for reasons we simply can't know. But this we do know, Jesus is not indifferent to our pain. He was a man of sorrows and He walks with us in our grief.

He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. -- Isaiah 53:3

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. -- Hebrews 4:15-16

Jesus does not float above our pain with stoic indifference, He is there with every believer. For example, in the book of Acts when Saul of Tarsus persecuted Christians, Jesus did not ask him, "Saul, why are you persecuting my people?" No, instead Jesus asked him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting ME?" When Saul persecuted Christians, it was as if he persecuted Christ Himself (Acts 9:4). Jesus is the friend that sticks closer than a brother, and we are not alone in our suffering, and we are not alone in death.

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. -- Psalms 116:15

Jesus wept at the funeral of Lazarus, and He wept with Mary and Martha. But what happened next was shocking and unbelievable to those present; Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.

In the next chapter of John's Gospel, we find Lazarus enjoying a meal with his two sisters and with His Lord. No doubt, there was great rejoicing. This is just a glimpse of what is to come for every believer. One day, there will be a new heaven and a new earth, God will wipe away every tear, and we will dine with Christ in His kingdom.

Eventually, Lazarus would die again, as would Mary and Martha. However, Jesus made a promise to them, and to every believer as well:

For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." -- John 6:40

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, -- John 11:25

Although Lazarus died again, Jesus was crucified and rose on the third day, never to die again; and He promised to raise up everyone who believes in Him on the last day, and they will never die again. In the same way, that David conquered Goliath, and his victory was imputed to all of Israel, Christ defeated sin and death, and His victory is imputed to everyone who trusts in Him.

Now, the light of Christ shines in that dark corridor because He has conquered death. Though we may grieve at the loss of a loved one, we do not grieve as being without hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14). Because Jesus lives, those who are hidden in Christ will live as well. Death may bring sorrow, and it may appear for a time that Jesus delays His coming, but we can rest and know, that He will be on time, in His good time.

The Heidelberg Catechism asks the question: What is your only comfort in life and in death?
The Answer:

That I am not my own, but belong— body and soul, in life and in death— to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.

So what is our ultimate comfort? It is not in being spared from death and the sorrow that it brings; but rather, we find our comfort in trusting Christ, and knowing that He will shepherd us through the valley of the shadow of death. For the believer, death is but a passing shadow like sleep, and because we are secure in Christ, death has lost its sting.

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. -- 1 Corinthians 15:51-58