To get pearls, one must dive deep!

Tag: Lazarus

Jesus “REALLY” wept

When we hear the word, Jesus wept, we usually think about it,  in the context of Him, expressing a human emotion at the death of his friend, Lazarus (as recorded in John 11:35). Additionally, this verse’s claim to fame is that it is the shortest verse in the King James Version of the English Bible.

But there was another time that Jesus wept, which is recorded in the Bible. This is recorded in Luke 19:41-44. In this instance, Jesus wept over the city (Jerusalem) as He triumphantly entered it.  Why? Because the people of the city did not know of the time of God’s visitation. God had visited them through the voice of the prophets, and now was visiting them in the person of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ and yet the people did not want to accept Him as God and King (Luke 19:14,38).

Jesus wept for his friend Lazarus who was only in a state of ephemeral physical death. But I believe, Jesus “really” wept over the people of the city, who were in a state of eternal spiritual death. There were some in the city, whom Jesus anguished over as they were caught up in their own self-righteousness, as if they needed no repentance (Luke 3:8), rejecting him as the King over them (Luke 19:38).

Point(s) to ponder:

  1. Are we weeping for and over those in our city, who are in a state of Spiritual death? If not, we should be and should start taking action by telling them about God visiting them through Jesus, His only begotten and beloved Son. To be in a state of physical death is better than to be in a state of Spiritual death in God’s kingdom.
  2. Are people coming to know the time of God’s visitation through our voices and lives?

Luke 19:41-44 (KJV)

41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
42
Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.
43
For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,
44
And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

Weeping God

The shortest verse as stated in the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible is recorded in John 11:35 which reads, “Jesus wept.” when Lazarus died and was laid in a tomb. While this may seem to be a natural reaction to the loss of companionship of a dear one, this account have deep undertones with the eventual glory being all God’s, that ought not to be missed. What I want to focus on today is simply the reaction of Jesus when someone dear to him died. Jesus wept.

According to the Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, the word ‘wept’ is the past or past particle of the word weep. Weep is a verb. Transitively it means to express deep sorrow for (usually by shedding tears) and intransitively it means to express passion (as grief by shedding tears).

Jesus expresses deep sorrow for all those who are dead spiritually and wishes that each one of us are saved. He expressed God’s passion for us by dying on the cross. Even Mel Gibson’s wonderful movie, The Passion of the Christ falls short of the true passion that Jesus had and continues to have for you and me today. Think about it, Jesus is a weeping God, a God who weeps when man choose to be separated from His companionship with them, a.k.a. when they choose to be spiritually dead. He passionately seeks after each one.

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén