Jesus wept - why?

In the Bible, the book of John chapter 11 has many takeaways.  However, many people I've heard over the years give commentary on this chapter seem to travel a beaten path.  Their takeaway is always something to the effect of "Jesus wept because of how deeply He loved us." They elaborate on the theme as much as they want, but that's about their only angle.  While I don't disagree with that, I do think it's leaving out an important angle, and any mature believer should be able to see this story from multiple angles.  I'm going to present an additional interpretation as to why Jesus wept.

John 11:35 is often cited as the shortest verse in the Bible.  As a technicality, it's one of five verses (in the NIV translation) that have only two words:

• Job 3:2 NIV - He said:
• Luke 20:30 NIV - The second
• John 11:35 NIV - Jesus wept.
• 1 Thessalonians 5:16 NIV - Rejoice always,
• 1 Thessalonians 5:17 NIV - pray continually,

(And arguably, since some translations like NIV only have a footnote for Matthew 23:14, Mark 9:44, 46, Luke 17:36, 23:17, and John 5:4, without actual text, these might be considered the shortest verses. Did you know that Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible, with only 2 verses (link)

Shortest verse or not, it's always fascinating when God shows obvious emotion.  (Like when "the father" ran in Luke 15:20.)  So why did God weep (cry) in John 11:35?  Context is critical.  Taking the Bible literally would inform us that the very next verse has the answer.

John 11:36 NIV - Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him!"

But I prefer to take the Bible seriously.  Remember Nicodemus from a few chapters earlier?  He took Jesus literally and we all benefit from the response he got, including the most famous verse in the entire Bible: John 3:16.  But Nicodemus's attitude is not presented as a role model for the rest of us.  Their conversation almost sounds like it was included sarcastically, like, "this religious leader didn't even get it" (John 3:10).  So let's use our forensics and dig a little deeper than simply taking that one verse (John 11:36) literally.

First, look at all the times in the first 3/4 of this chapter alone that Jesus is doubted by the people around Him.

• John 11:11-12 NIV - He went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up." His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better."
• (Implication: the disciples essentially said "we're going where??  Why bother?  Whatever you're thinking, we're better off right here.")
• John 11:16 NIV - Then Thomas... said to the rest of the disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."
• (Implication: Jesus, you're crazy, but you're the boss.)
• John 11:21 NIV - "Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
• (Implication: because you took so long to get here, my brother is dead.)
• John 11:23-24 NIV - Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."
• (Implication: yeah, that's what you say, and I guess after we're all dead we'll be reunited again, thanks for nothing.)
• John 11:32 NIV - When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell at His feet and said, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."
• (Implication: same as verse 21 above.)
• John 11:37 NIV - But some of them said, "Could not He who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"
• (Implication: I guess even He has limitations.)
• John 11:39 NIV - "But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days."
• (Implication: are you crazy, you think we're all joking about his death and you want proof he's not just hiding out in there? Aren't you God? Don't you know these things?)

It's also important to note that we can't see body language nor hear the tone of voice (attitudes).  So we can only make inferences from what we can read.  But if I was clearly the biggest hero in the room, and the biggest hero ever, and people had just criticized my intelligence and skill 7 times in a pretty short window, my mood would not be it's best.  There are 3 verses that reveal Jesus's response to these implied (or explicit, whether intended or not) criticisms.

• John 11:14 NIV - So then He told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."
• John 11:33 NIV - When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
• John 11:38 NIV - Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb.

I don't speak for the author of this text, but when I read "then He told them plainly," I think I can "hear" the exasperation in the air.  Then in verses 33 and 38 we see Jesus was "deeply moved."  So many of us would love to take verse 36 literally.  But there are passages in the Bible where it accurately records people who said inaccurate things, like in John 10:20 and Acts 12:21-23.  It's an important possibility that Jesus wept because He was actually so disappointed in us, and maybe even so ticked, that we made Him cry.  Because it also says He was "troubled."  What makes more sense, if we have no preconceived desire for what this story should lead us to?  Does it make more sense that He was troubled because:

1. they had to grieve, or
2. they were grieving (mourning) even in His presence, as if they'd given up on Him doing anything, or worse, being able to do anything?

Remember what He said another time about grieving in His presence:

Matthew 9:15 NIV - Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will [grieve].”

And remember what He said of His own disciples when they failed to cast a demon out on their own:

Matthew 17:17a NIV - “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?”

Right before the first time He was deeply moved and troubled (in verse 33), He was criticized (in verse 32).

John 11:32-33 NIV - When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell at His feet and said, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, he was deeply moved in his spirit and troubled.

The first thing He said after He was troubled was "where have you laid him?"  He didn't say "you're going to love this," nor "I'm so sorry this had to happen, but watch this" nor "don't you just hate sin, which leads to death?"  No, He was recorded as being short and to the point, which is more characteristic of frustration than love.  Pay attention to when exactly He wept:

John 11:33-35 NIV - When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” He asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept.

What it didn't say was "When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, He wept too."  It does say when He saw them weeping, "He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled." So then He asks them a question, and it wasn't until after their response that He cried.  This is where it's too bad body language and tone don't come through.  It's only after they replied "Come and see, Lord," that He broke into tears.  My guess is their comment was filled with resignation and remorse, showing how devastatingly they had given up on Jesus being able to do anything.  Because notice what they didn't say when Jesus showed up.  They didn't say "thank God you're here! Now everything is going to be ok. :)"  They didn't say "yeah, you're here!  Come right over here, here's his body.  What are you waiting for?  I'm getting sick of these mourners making such a fuss."  No, instead they said "if You had been here, [but now it's too late, woe is me.] :("  I'm not trying to criticize, because I'm not confident I'd be any smarter than they were.  I'm just making a contrast.

Notice how the biographer, John, chose to write in John 11:36 that "some of them said, 'See how He loved him!'" John didn't write this declaration as his own, he was very specific to give credit for the interpretation to others. Others were given credit for 15 statements in this story, only 3 of which were right or otherwise role models for us to follow: John 11:22, 27, 28. (Interestingly, all from Martha. Interesting after Luke 10:41-42. She must've been paying attention.) The people surrounding Jesus said little in this chapter worthy of theological perpetuation, so it's dubious this one comment (which was inherently an interpretation) should be held up as unchallengeable fact, except to support an emotional conclusion that sounds so beautiful we simply want to believe it. But the followers of Jesus are called to believe truth, not beauty (John 4:24, 14:6, Isaiah 53:2, Proverbs 31:30). That said, it is entirely likely that Jesus was experiencing more than one emotion here. He was indeed both "deeply moved in his spirit and troubled." It is believable he cried for more than one reason, just as anyone at a funeral who knew and loved the recently deceased will cry for more than one reason due to the many emotions felt. My point is not to claim Jesus was devoid of love, that would be ridiculous (1 John 4:8). My point is to reveal an important angle to this situation that we all normally skip over.

Right before the second time He was deeply moved (in verse 38), He was criticized (in verse 37).

John 11:37-38 NIV - But some of them said, “Couldn’t he who opened the blind man’s eyes also have kept this man from dying?” Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb.

And then notice what Jesus didn't say after it was done.  He did say "take off the grave clothes and let him go." To me, this seems anticlimactic, which would be aligned with how a person would speak if they were disappointed and annoyed with the people around them.  Notice the tone wasn't "take off those rags and let's celebrate!" nor was it "hey man, give me a hug."  Not that those statements couldn't have been said, but they weren't recorded.  With the end result in mind now, let's go back to the beginning of the chapter and read the setup.

John 11:3-7 NIV - So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one You love is sick." When He heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it." Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was two more days, and then He said to His disciples, "Let us go back to Judea."

Let's assume Mary and Martha weren't stupid.  They had surely heard about those two times when their friend, Jesus, had done two long-distance healings, both of which were not only for complete strangers, but for gentiles.

1. That Roman centurion in Capernaum, who said "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed."  (Matthew 8:5-13 / Luke 7:1-10)
2. Then there was that Syrian woman's daughter.  When the mother asked for Jesus's help, He responded with that "dogs" comment, and the woman countered with "even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table."  (Matthew 15:21-28 / Mark 7:24-30)

Mary and Martha knew Jesus could heal Lazarus without lifting a finger, and the minute their brother died, they knew He had chosen not to.  And they would have known how far away Jesus was by how fast their messengers had returned.  (Whether the messengers returned immediately after delivering the message or even if they'd returned with Jesus, either way, the ladies would have found out that Jesus had delayed returning for two whole days.)  But Jesus knew what was going to happen, and He wanted to make a huge demonstration.  Remember He said this "is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified."  For this awesome opportunity to prove Himself in an unprecedented, spectacular way, He probably would have liked it if His friends would have had a little faith.  Remember how He felt when others failed to take Him seriously in Matthew 11:20?  And who knows, by verse 35, He may have already felt the weight of the intense criticism He was about to get in the very next verses (John 11:45-46 and 53).  Knowing you're going to be condemned to die for bringing someone back to life might just put a dampener on your day, and He just might have appreciated more support from His friends.

In other words, this was a test, and His friends failed.  He even said what He was about to do flat out, twice. First He told His disciples "this sickness won't end in death," and there was no recorded response.  Then He told Martha "your brother will rise again," and she just responded "[Yeah,] I know," but that doesn't seem to have been an entirely sincere "I know."  This terribly disappointed Jesus, so He cried about it.  We made Him cry.  That was why He preceded His spectacular miracle by saying:

John 11:41-42 NIV - Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."

He wasn't trying to butter the Father up by saying "hey, You're listening right?  Because I'm about to ask for something big."  He was driving home the point that even though we made Him cry, even though we didn't believe in Him, He knew His Heavenly Father did, and He was grateful to The Father for that, regardless of our failures.  He was saying "at least you believe in Me, Father, so let's go ahead and do this for these ungratefuls anyway."  God laments about our failures.  One of the earliest laments was Genesis 6:5-7, and returning to the gospels there was Matthew 23:37 / Luke 13:34.  His earthly friends let Him down other times, like that after-dinner visit to the garden with Peter, James, and John (Matthew 26:40-41), and the time with Peter and that rooster (Matthew 26:74).  But He still loves us, He still died for us (Romans 5:8), and He still wants us to be with Him forever.  May we be intentional not to disappoint our Creator so much we make Him cry.

This wasn't the only time God cried because of us. He was also moved to tears that time He approached Jerusalem in Luke 19:41-44. On the surface we can say He cried because He was prophesying that Jerusalem would soon fall, but more importantly was why it would fall. They were going to fall because God was going to punish them, His chosen and favorite people, for their lack of faith and obedience. In other words, we made Him cry in profound disappointment at our unfaithfulness to God. While people can cry for a variety of reasons, and so could Jesus, it should also be entirely believable that both times He was recorded as crying were for this same reason.

By the way, a couple chapters later, when He said He is the only way (John 14:6), He wasn't just being arrogant.  He wasn't being exclusive nor conceited and saying "join my club or be left out."  He's saying "no one else is coming for you.  There is no other God who loves you and passionately pursues you and longs to forgive you of your sin and to heal you from your brokenness."  What an awesome God we have, who deserves our obedience (Matthew 7:21).

In the end, only God will be able to definitively explain to us why He wept. And while there was probably a very specific reason He did it, there can still be numerous lessons to learn.