Grace and Truth, John 11

This is another well-known Bible story, when Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead.

 

Questions have been asked many times—why did Jesus Cry? Lazarus and his sisters were Jesus’ friends. Why didn’t he go to them immediately?

 

I’ve heard possible answers, and I have my own ideas, but truthfully, we only know what the Scripture verses tell us.

 

Lazarus, Jesus’ friend, was sick, and his sisters asked Jesus to come heal him. Jesus didn’t go until after Lazarus died.

 

Jesus would have known from the beginning that Lazarus was going to die, and that he was going to raise him from the dead.

 

In the meantime, he had to deal with his disciples’ questions, the sisters’ disappointment, the mourners’ speculations.

 

In the end, Jesus had his goals, and he explained this to his disciples.

 

Verses 14-15: 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.”

 

He spoke to his Father and explained to all of us what the whole event was about.

 

Verses 40-42: Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

So they took away the stone. 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 wept. Certainly he was upset. For the suffering of his friends? For the confusion of his disciples? For the lack of faith toward his Father? For the horror yet to come for all of them?

 

Maybe. Jesus was human with human feelings.

 

And he was God, completing his work, moving, with purpose, toward the finish.