At the tomb of Lazarus, dead four days, those who saw Jesus weep and heard Him groan took His tears as proof of how deeply He personally loved him. That love was real and mutual, for Lazarus was a steadfast disciple whom Jesus loved with peculiar tenderness, and Bethany was the home where He often found rest. The onlookers understood only part of His sorrow, for He was not weeping for Lazarus whom He was about to call to life, but was pressed with the weight of the grief of the ages and all the suffering and death sin had brought upon the race. He delayed coming not from lack of love, but to permit the death so the resurrection would be a powerful testimony leading many to believe. That raising was the crowning evidence that He is the Son of God and Lifegiver, revealing the Father and pointing to the resurrection of the dead at His return.
Context and Love Observed
The saying belongs to the account of Lazarus's death and resurrection, when Jesus wept at the tomb and then called Lazarus to come out. Lazarus had been dead four days when Christ called him from the tomb, and the raising was evidence of Christ's divine authority, showing His love and power. The account shows His power over death and points to the resurrection of the dead at His return.
Those who saw Jesus weep and heard Him groan took His tears as proof of how deeply He personally loved Lazarus. The people at the tomb recognized the weeping as an expression of deep love, and the Jews recognized His sincere affection for him. That conclusion understood only part of His sorrow, taking it as grief for Lazarus alone and even as grief over inability to prevent the death, rather than understanding His power to raise him.
His love for Lazarus was real, and the bystanders rightly recognized it even though His grief reached far beyond him. Lazarus of Bethany was among the most steadfast disciples, strong in faith from their first meeting and deep in love for Jesus, and he was greatly beloved by Jesus. Bethany was where Jesus often found rest in Lazarus's home. Jesus blesses all who seek His help and loves all the human family, yet He is bound to some by peculiarly tender associations, and His heart was knit by a strong bond of affection to the family at Bethany, for whom the greatest of His miracles was performed.
He delayed going to Bethany not because He loved Lazarus and his sisters less, but His love was real even though He delayed going to them. His presence would have brought relief, but the death was permitted so the resurrection could be a powerful testimony leading many to believe in Jesus. That resurrection became the crowning evidence to the Jews that Jesus was the Son of God. Christ knew that raising Lazarus would lead to His own humiliation and death, for He would pay the ransom for those He rescued, His death being for every person with salvation offered to all who return to loyalty to God.
Meaning of Jesus' Tears
Those who watched Him weep were right to see real affection in His tears, yet they grasped only part of what moved Him, taking His weeping as sorrow for Lazarus alone. They saw His tears and heard His groaning and concluded they proved His personal love for Lazarus, softly reading outward circumstance as grief from love for a friend. That reading misunderstood Him, for His groaning was over their unbelief rather than mere sorrow for the dead man.
His weeping was not for Lazarus, whom He was about to call from the grave, and it was not only from human sympathy with Mary and Martha. As Son of God in human nature He was indeed moved by human sorrow with tender pity, and His tears express sympathy for the bereaved, with His return of Lazarus to Mary and Martha showing His care for those who mourn. Beyond that human pity His tears held a sorrow as high above human sorrow as heaven is above earth. The weight of the grief of the ages pressed upon Him, the effects of transgression and the unceasing conflict and suffering and death facing the human family since Abel and throughout the ages, as He longed to relieve all distress.
At the grave He also sorrowed because many then mourning Him would soon plan the death of Him who is the resurrection and the life, premeditate His death, close hope against themselves, and die without hope in the siege of Jerusalem. Some bystanders further misunderstood His tears as grief over inability to prevent the death, reasoning that One who had opened the eyes of the blind should have kept Lazarus from dying, rather than understanding His power to raise him. Those words were blind infidelity from people who should have had faith, and they burdened Him as He approached the grave.
Power and Witness
Jesus' tears expressed sympathy for the bereaved, and His bringing a dead brother back from the grave and returning Lazarus to Mary and Martha with joy shows a care that can do more than people ask or imagine. That care belonged to a life marked by compassion in which He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and comforted the grieving. Yet prejudice and hatred kept many from recognizing or accepting Him.
The raising was a testimony to divine power and authority, permitted in divine wisdom after delay, to be the crowning evidence to the Jews that Jesus was the Son of God. It was a convincing proof of His divinity and Messiahship, undeniable evidence even to Nicodemus. It revealed the Father through Christ to believers and unbelievers, demonstrated His character as Saviour and Lifegiver, and showed His love and power.
The delay did not mean He loved Lazarus and his sisters less, but made the resurrection a powerful testimony, and Lazarus's life and witness led many to believe in Jesus. That miracle had a powerful effect on minds and drew a large, enthusiastic crowd to see Jesus. It served as a public testimony to divine power and as a final test for the Jewish nation.
Lazarus, together with the son of the widow of Nain and the ruler's daughter, was raised during His ministry not to immortality but restored only to mortal life, not clothed with immortality and still subject to death and decay. This is different from those who came forth from the grave at Christ's own resurrection, who were raised to everlasting life as trophies of His victory over death and the grave, redeemed from captivity to be with Him where He is, nevermore to see death or experience sorrow. The account of calling Lazarus from the tomb after four days in the grave shows power over death and points to the resurrection of the dead at His return. In raising the dead to life He was just as certainly fulfilling His mission as the Pattern Man as when He toiled as a carpenter hiding His divine mission, when He trod the foaming billows on the sea of Galilee, and when He died as man's sacrifice to lift the whole race to a new and perfect life. He knew that raising Lazarus would lead to His own humiliation and death, for He would pay the ransom for those He rescued, a death for every person with salvation offered to all who return to loyalty to God.
At the tomb of Lazarus, dead four days, those who saw Jesus weep and heard Him groan took His tears as proof of how deeply He personally loved him. That love was real and mutual, for Lazarus was a steadfast disciple whom Jesus loved with peculiar tenderness, and Bethany was the home where He often found rest. The onlookers understood only part of His sorrow, for He was not weeping for Lazarus whom He was about to call to life, but was pressed with the weight of the grief of the ages and all the suffering and death sin had brought upon the race. He delayed coming not from lack of love, but to permit the death so the resurrection would be a powerful testimony leading many to believe. That raising was the crowning evidence that He is the Son of God and Lifegiver, revealing the Father and pointing to the resurrection of the dead at His return.
Context and Love Observed
The saying belongs to the account of Lazarus's death and resurrection, when Jesus wept at the tomb and then called Lazarus to come out. Lazarus had been dead four days when Christ called him from the tomb, and the raising was evidence of Christ's divine authority, showing His love and power. The account shows His power over death and points to the resurrection of the dead at His return.
Those who saw Jesus weep and heard Him groan took His tears as proof of how deeply He personally loved Lazarus. The people at the tomb recognized the weeping as an expression of deep love, and the Jews recognized His sincere affection for him. That conclusion understood only part of His sorrow, taking it as grief for Lazarus alone and even as grief over inability to prevent the death, rather than understanding His power to raise him.
His love for Lazarus was real, and the bystanders rightly recognized it even though His grief reached far beyond him. Lazarus of Bethany was among the most steadfast disciples, strong in faith from their first meeting and deep in love for Jesus, and he was greatly beloved by Jesus. Bethany was where Jesus often found rest in Lazarus's home. Jesus blesses all who seek His help and loves all the human family, yet He is bound to some by peculiarly tender associations, and His heart was knit by a strong bond of affection to the family at Bethany, for whom the greatest of His miracles was performed.
He delayed going to Bethany not because He loved Lazarus and his sisters less, but His love was real even though He delayed going to them. His presence would have brought relief, but the death was permitted so the resurrection could be a powerful testimony leading many to believe in Jesus. That resurrection became the crowning evidence to the Jews that Jesus was the Son of God. Christ knew that raising Lazarus would lead to His own humiliation and death, for He would pay the ransom for those He rescued, His death being for every person with salvation offered to all who return to loyalty to God.
Meaning of Jesus' Tears
Those who watched Him weep were right to see real affection in His tears, yet they grasped only part of what moved Him, taking His weeping as sorrow for Lazarus alone. They saw His tears and heard His groaning and concluded they proved His personal love for Lazarus, softly reading outward circumstance as grief from love for a friend. That reading misunderstood Him, for His groaning was over their unbelief rather than mere sorrow for the dead man.
His weeping was not for Lazarus, whom He was about to call from the grave, and it was not only from human sympathy with Mary and Martha. As Son of God in human nature He was indeed moved by human sorrow with tender pity, and His tears express sympathy for the bereaved, with His return of Lazarus to Mary and Martha showing His care for those who mourn. Beyond that human pity His tears held a sorrow as high above human sorrow as heaven is above earth. The weight of the grief of the ages pressed upon Him, the effects of transgression and the unceasing conflict and suffering and death facing the human family since Abel and throughout the ages, as He longed to relieve all distress.
At the grave He also sorrowed because many then mourning Him would soon plan the death of Him who is the resurrection and the life, premeditate His death, close hope against themselves, and die without hope in the siege of Jerusalem. Some bystanders further misunderstood His tears as grief over inability to prevent the death, reasoning that One who had opened the eyes of the blind should have kept Lazarus from dying, rather than understanding His power to raise him. Those words were blind infidelity from people who should have had faith, and they burdened Him as He approached the grave.
Power and Witness
Jesus' tears expressed sympathy for the bereaved, and His bringing a dead brother back from the grave and returning Lazarus to Mary and Martha with joy shows a care that can do more than people ask or imagine. That care belonged to a life marked by compassion in which He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and comforted the grieving. Yet prejudice and hatred kept many from recognizing or accepting Him.
The raising was a testimony to divine power and authority, permitted in divine wisdom after delay, to be the crowning evidence to the Jews that Jesus was the Son of God. It was a convincing proof of His divinity and Messiahship, undeniable evidence even to Nicodemus. It revealed the Father through Christ to believers and unbelievers, demonstrated His character as Saviour and Lifegiver, and showed His love and power.
The delay did not mean He loved Lazarus and his sisters less, but made the resurrection a powerful testimony, and Lazarus's life and witness led many to believe in Jesus. That miracle had a powerful effect on minds and drew a large, enthusiastic crowd to see Jesus. It served as a public testimony to divine power and as a final test for the Jewish nation.
Lazarus, together with the son of the widow of Nain and the ruler's daughter, was raised during His ministry not to immortality but restored only to mortal life, not clothed with immortality and still subject to death and decay. This is different from those who came forth from the grave at Christ's own resurrection, who were raised to everlasting life as trophies of His victory over death and the grave, redeemed from captivity to be with Him where He is, nevermore to see death or experience sorrow. The account of calling Lazarus from the tomb after four days in the grave shows power over death and points to the resurrection of the dead at His return. In raising the dead to life He was just as certainly fulfilling His mission as the Pattern Man as when He toiled as a carpenter hiding His divine mission, when He trod the foaming billows on the sea of Galilee, and when He died as man's sacrifice to lift the whole race to a new and perfect life. He knew that raising Lazarus would lead to His own humiliation and death, for He would pay the ransom for those He rescued, a death for every person with salvation offered to all who return to loyalty to God.