John 11:28-37

Jesus Weeps

When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, ‘The Teacher is here and is calling for you.’ And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’ But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?’

Jesus has just met Martha and has been given the sad news that Lazarus is dead. At other times, Martha and her sister Mary both reacted differently in Jesus’ presence – when he visited their home and when Mary anointed Jesus. On this occasion, though, both sisters agree on one thing: If Jesus had got here earlier, their brother Lazarus would not have died. The people who have come along to sympathize seem to believe that too – but they express it in a more accusatory way.

We can hear similar accusations thrown at God all the time – if God is so powerful and loves us so much, why do horrible things keep happening? If these two sisters who could count Jesus as a personal friend could think that way, how much more could people centuries later who never had the privilege of meeting Jesus in person?

In the Message version, it says that as Jesus saw Mary weep for her brother, “a deep anger welled up within him”. Anger is something that gets a bad rap these days – and justifiably so, because much of the anger we see expressed is either misdirected or misused. But anger isn’t for attacking someone whose driving you don’t like, or for reducing shop staff to tears because that new printer you bought doesn’t work; it’s for motivating you to challenge injustice or anything else that causes people misery, and ultimately to do something to change it.

Blessings as we pray that we might be warriors for social justice.  Be safe!  Be well!  The Spirit has come!

To Ponder:

• To what extent is it easier to have faith in someone’s abilities when they are present? Why?
• Why do you think Jesus wept?