A Savior who cries

Then Jesus wept. — John 11:35

Jesus weeps because he cares.

I can’t go any further with why Jesus weeps in the story of Martha, Mary and bringing brother Lazarus back from the dead after four days in a tomb. The text doesn’t speak directly to the cause or reason for Jesus’ tears, so we are left with what we have, a Savior who cries.

I think this is more than okay. Actually, it’s wonderful.

No theologian—from the most educated, experienced, and renowned to the armchair novice—knows with clarity why the friend to Martha, Mary and Lazarus weeps. We can speculate. We can believe.

But we don’t know.

For now, I don’t think we need to know. This isn’t to be our focus. And the Gospel of John, like any scripture, isn’t incomplete, scant, or reduced. It leads us to what we need to know.

It’s enough to know that we have a Savior who is human and real and vulnerable and sensitive enough to actually weep when it’s really hard sometimes.

This gospel shares what we need to know. We don’t have a Savior of steel. We have a Savior with a soft heart.

Let’s all rejoice and spend time with Jesus whose heart can break with tears that flow.

PRAYER: Sometimes we just need someone to cry with us, Jesus. Help us realize this is You. Help us hear You weep when we are weeping, lost, broken, dismayed or just very sad. Amen.