Jesus loves through his tears.
Ok, if you know me, you know I wear my emotions on my sleeve. I shed tears for Joy the other night as I baptized my daughter.
The weeping Jesus did though was different.
John 11:35 Jesus Wept
The Greek for wept: Dakruo- To weep, shed tears (Verb). T
The the word dakruo is only used once in the new testament.
So I decided to go to the old Testament to gain a bit more understanding of how the Jewish people would see the action of Jesus openly weeping.
1 Sam 30:4 3 When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 4 So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep.
Psalm 69:10 When I weep and fast,
I must endure scorn;
Job 2:11-12 When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. 12 When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads.
Jer 22:10 Do not weep for the dead king or mourn his loss;
rather, weep bitterly for him who is exiled,
because he will never return
nor see his native land again.
Weep to the Jews is a open outword expresion of grief.
Bakah – baw-kaw’ (Verb) 1. To weep, bewail, cry, shed tears 2. (participle) a. lamenting, b. bewailing
Jesus being the perfect Jew expressed his emotions perfectly. He did it genuinely because he was troubled by Lazarus’ death, and he did it openly in front of Martha and Mary. He did it out of Love, Lazarus was his friend.
John 11:11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”
John 35- 36 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
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To see the rest of the post for John 11 go here.
I am struck with all of the emotion in this chapter, as well. Probably because I am so emotional and it helps to know Jesus was too. We seem to see Him as “meek and mild” meaning “weak and quiet.” I believe He was exuberant in His emotions, yet, in control. So much of the time we think of emotions as sinful when it’s what we “do” with the emotion that can be wrong.
OK…total tangent, but that’s what came to mind.
Love you brother! Thank you for this.
I love that whatever we go through in this world, Jesus already went through it, and HE truly knows and understands what we are going through. i was taught many years ago that tears were a sign of weakness, and never to show that. when the LORD showed me this verse, just two words, it broke my heart, and tears were the result.
I have often wondered when Jesus wept, was it deeper than the love he felt for his friend and his family…if it was a picture to HIM … that HE came here to conquer the grave to set us free. Again motivated by love for us.
Great thoughts…
I weep regularly – every day. Mostly when I am thinking of the needs of others or the blessings that God gives us. Sometimes I have difficulty with conversation because I can’t stop weeping. i consider it one of God’s gifts He has given me.
You have to wonder why we are so paranoid of showing the least bit of emotion to others for fear of being perceived of as weak when our Lord was so willing to be open with His emotions. No one would ever call Him weak.
Good stuff Carl, thanks.
As I read this I thought of that old cure song, “boys don’t cry.” I was raised in one of those homes where I was toughened up, and taught that men don’t cry. I tend to be this way with my boy too…it kind of comes naturally. BUT I have cried at the births of all four of my kids, and the death of my grandmother. Kind of weird that death and birth were those occasions.
Anyway, even though we have such a great hope, eternal life, I think per Jesus’ model it’s great to weep for one whom you know is now with the Lord. We’re still here on earth after all.
Even athough Jesus knew what the outcome would be, His love for Lazarus, Mary and Martha showed in His tears. In the flesh for real among us. What an example of compassion and love.
hey how did my avatar change back? mmmmmm must work on that later today! have a good day
I like that you’ve connected Jesus weeping with other passages of Scripture. It lends it such a great amount of depth. Heartfelt. Deep. Raw. Visible. Jesus was not ashamed to weep.