He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
Isaiah 53:3
This verse points prophetically to the tears of our Lord. In Luke, we see the tears of Jesus due to that rejection:
41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44 and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
Luke 19:41-44
This event occurred on Palm Sunday, soon after Jesus was honored as King. He rode on the colt of a donkey from the Mount of Olives toward the Garden of Gethsemane, fulfilling Zechariah 9:9. It’s a beautiful view from that road of the holy city of Jerusalem, and looking upon that city, Jesus began to weep. What made Jesus cry? The people He came to save didn’t see His love! He loved them so much that He came to die for them, but they blindly looked away. Even those aware of the Old Testament prophecies were looking for a conquering warrior rather than a suffering servant. Jesus also saw their future, for in A.D. 70, the Romans would surround God’s City and level it, casting the Jews to the four corners of the earth. Because they did not see Him, their eyes were blinded for future generations, as well. Those blinders remain for the most part, though God does allow some Jews to see Jesus now. We know that in the Great Tribulation, He will open their eyes. Yet there was another prophetic event that the words of Isaiah applied to, when Lazarus died:
35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”
37 And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”
38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”
Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” 43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
John 11:35
This section begins with the shortest verse in the Bible, and one of the most powerful. Jesus wept. If Jesus knew that He was going to resurrect Lazarus momentarily, why did He cry? I think there are many answers to that question. Part of it has to do with what love really is. Love is filled with compassion and empathy, which is the ability to feel someone else’s pain. Jesus certainly felt the pain of the sisters of Lazarus, who were His friends. Additionally, remember that this was before the death of Jesus. We are told of another Lazarus, a beggar who died, and then went to Abraham’s Bosom (Luke 16:20-31). At that time, all the dead went to Gehenna, which had a large chasm separating those bound for heaven and those bound for eternal damnation. It was not a pleasant place, and Lazarus was there after he died. After His death on the cross, Jesus went to the same place, and took the righteous souls with Him to heaven! Though Jesus was 100% God when He walked on the earth, He was also 100% man! Lazarus had been dead four days, and according to the Scriptures, he stunk!
How does your sin smell? Sometimes, we seem to focus on the stench of the sin of others rather than our own sin. I think this is part of the human condition, as with the gift of smell, we grow accustomed to our own assault of the olfactory senses, and are much more offended at the offensive odors we are not so accustomed to! But the truth is, my sin stinks just as badly as anyone else’s. Just as He did with Lazarus, Jesus took the dead, stinking man in each of us as Christians and brought us back to life. In that moment, He gave us the everlasting gift of life with Him! The stench is gone, not because we don’t continue to sin, but because He forgave us and took the punishment in our places.
Doesn’t it humble you to know that our Savior cried for you in your trespasses? The God who created all, loves you so much that He cried for you! He hears each of our tears, especially, the tears of contrition. Remember, not all of our tears come from a contrite heart. Esau cried to his father Isaac when he lost his birthright in Genesis 27:38. Additionally, Judas wept bitterly before hanging himself.
10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
2 Corinthians 7:10
Sorrow can be worldly sorrow when things don’t work out the way you want them to. That sorrow is not repentance, it is feeling sorry for yourself. It would be a true step of growth if we would allow our sin to break our hearts, just as it breaks God’s heart! When we get to that point, Jesus will cry out to you, “Come forth!”
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