Two extremes.
“Jesus wept.” ~John 11:35 (CSB)
“…he shouted with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’” ~John 11:43 (CSB)
I love the book of John. It is hands-down my favorite of the four gospels because I love how John writes, and I love the structure of his book.
John records seven miracles and the seven 'I Am' statements.
Jesus' prayer in chapter 17 just before Judas Iscariot betrays Him is one of the most astonishing sections to me, because we get to hear Jesus praying to God the Father. Just consider how amazing that is!
Chapter 1 opens with the beautiful words, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” hearkening back to creation while establishing Christ’s divinity. By the 14th verse, John establishes Christ’s humanity, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
We head into chapter 3 and find the verse that encapsulates our very faith, “For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (3:16).
And it’s in chapter 11 that we witness the beautiful depth of Christ’s humanity and the sovereign power of His divinity. Lazarus, and his sisters Mary and Martha, appear several times in the gospels, and they are friends with Jesus. This time, Lazarus is sick, and the sisters send a message to Jesus saying, "'Lord, the one you love is sick'" (11:3). Jesus does not hurry to his sickbed; He stays two more days where He was before traveling back to Bethany, where Lazarus and his sisters lived. When Jesus arrives, it is to learn that Lazarus has died and has been in a tomb for four days.
Martha approaches Jesus first and forthrightly says, “‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died’” (11:21). Gutsy Martha, she speaks her mind so well. Yet she follows this with a statement of faith, “‘Yet even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you’” (11:22). Her brother is dead, Jesus could have done something about it, and she still trusts Jesus.
Jesus responds with an audacious claim that were He anybody but God would be ludicrous. "'I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?'" Martha says, yes.
Mary now approaches and says the very same thing Martha did, "'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died!'" (11:32). Mary, though, is overcome with crying. When they show Jesus where Lazarus' tomb is, he begins weeping as well. John 11:35 simply says, "Jesus wept."
Jesus asks for the stone to be removed from the tomb’s entrance. When they remove it, Jesus first prays to the Father before shouting, “‘Lazarus, come out!’” And you know what, Lazarus comes out. John writes, “The dead man came out bound hand and foot with linen strips and with his face wrapped in a cloth” (11:44).
This account of a dead man coming to life can quickly become old news when we read it repeatedly. It loses some of its power to astonish and amaze. And how awful is that? I think of loved ones I have lost, and if they had come back to life after being gone, I would never be able to stop marveling at their resurrection. It is this familiarity that dulls our awareness of the miraculous. Jesus brings people back to life. If He can do that, what can't He do?
This story does something else, though, it brings Jesus humanity and divinity into direct focus. I don’t think anything can reveal our humanity quite like mourning a loved one. The reality of loss and the emptiness that remains is overwhelming. Jesus experienced this firsthand. We often tout the verse that says, "Jesus wept" (11:35) as one of the shortest in the Bible, but focus on what it says, not its length. Jesus wept. Jesus, God who became flesh, wept over death and heartbreak. Jesus wept. He cried real tears. He experienced life with all of its joys and sorrows, and He gave full expression to the emotions he experienced.
Surrounding this sorrow, though, are two things – Jesus’ statement, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live” (11:25) and Lazarus coming back to life (11:44). In this most human of moments, Jesus leaves no doubt that He is God incarnate. Who else could bring someone back to life? Who else can promise life after death? Who else could promise eternal life except for eternal God?
Humanity and divinity. Jesus walked the line of these two extremes. He was fully human and fully God. It is because He was both that He died to save us from our sins and rose again conquering death once and for all.
Later on, the apostle Paul writes, “For if, while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life" (Romans 5:10). Jesus, as both man and God, achieved what we lost in the Garden. He reconciled us with God, reuniting us with the one who loves us beyond anything we can imagine. He gives us hope when we had none. He offers us life in place of death.
