John
11:35, "Jesus wept."
This morning, things that are truly profound seem to
get richer with time rather than diminish in beauty.
When looking at the pages of Scripture, the richness
increases with study, and the things seen before seem
to get even brighter with further study. One of the
truly humbling things to me is that the further I go
in study, the more I realize I did not know to begin
with. So, should we ever think we have learned it all
(or at least all that we think we need), we have
failed in the understanding that God's truths are
fresh and vibrant on a daily basis with fields and
pastures ready for the feeding. Let us look this
morning at a familiar verse that we teach our children
(due to the ease of the memorization) to find some
rich Bible truths that are contained in the brevity of
the verse.
The context of the verse is revolving around the
death of Lazarus and the eventual raising of Lazarus
back to life by our Lord and Saviour. Christ has
already explained to Lazarus's sisters (Mary and
Martha) that He is the substance of the resurrection.
Therefore, they were beholding the One that has the
power to speak life where there is none. He has the
power to quicken things that are dead, and He alone
will speak for that life to come forth. One of the
most comforting things about the resurrection is that
our Lord Himself arose over death, hell, and the
grave, and we need not fear death as He will end all
death and sorrow when He comes the second time without
sin unto salvation.
However, we read these simple words about what
Christ did when He arrived at the Lazarus's tomb. He
wept, and this display caused the people there
gathered to declare the love that Christ has for this
one that has passed. But, I am confident in saying
that they did not have full comprehension of the love
that Christ has for Lazarus (or any of His elect
family). For us to comprehend that love, we would
have to know in full, but we understand that our
knowledge of that love is in part and through a glass
darkly. So, the question is, "If this display of
weeping caused the people to speak of His love, do we
understand why He wept?" Was Christ simply weeping
due to the sorrow that the family and friends felt
about losing a loved one?
It is my humble opinion that One with full knowledge
of the life to come and the happy state of the
righteous would have no reason to weep for such a
thought. Paul exhorts us to not sorrow as others
which have no hope. (I Thessalonians 4:13) Certainly,
we understand that Christ has knowledge of their loss
of fellowship, but He is the One that brings the peace
and consolation to such cases that we will see them
again in happier climes. But, there is a great reason
for Christ to weep when we understand the answer to
another question. here was Lazarus? Obviously, his
body was laid in the tomb, but where was he
consciously (in spirit and soul) Paul says in II
Corinthians 5:6-8 that being absent from the body is
to be present with the Lord. Lazarus's soul was not
lying in the tomb with the body. Rather, his spirit
and soul were absent from the body and present with
the Lord in .
Even though the Lord and Saviour was standing at the
tomb, heaven was not absent from the presence of the
Lord. (John 3:13) Even though incomprehensible to
finite minds, He was in heaven the same moment that He
was standing on the earth. Even though the body was
at a specific location, heaven enjoyed the brightness
and glory of the God of all creation. So, knowing
this, Lazarus was feasting upon the joy of His Lord.
He, for four earthly days, delighted in the
satisfaction of seeing immortal glory with all the
beauty that heaven affords. So, the cause for weeping
by Christ Jesus was that He would bring one from such
a peaceful, blessed state back to this low ground of
sin and sorrow. Lazarus would once again know the
heartaches of this life. He would again experience
the suffering that plagues us here daily. His cross
would have to be carried and borne again. Finally,
Lazarus would suffer the pangs of death once more when
his body would be laid to rest again.
Truly, knowing this state of Lazarus, we can see the
sorrow of our Saviour. But, for the glory of God and
magnifying of His power, He brought Lazarus back to
life to show forth His might and dominion over our
blackest foe. The Psalmist declares the the death of
His saints is precious in the sight of the Lord.
(Psalm 116:15) We can see that laying this warfare
down in death, while a frightening state for the
flesh, is a tranquil thought for the spirit. Our new
man longs to be released from this bondage of
corruption to be delivered into lorious liberty. Our
soul and spirit yearn for the day that all the sons of
God will be manifest. So, even though Lazarus was
brought back to life to suffer again, our Lord here
affords us a sweet picture of the resurrection at the
last day. True, Lazarus was raised from natural death
back to natural life to die a natural death again.
But, this serves to point us to the day that our Lord
will speak to these bodies, changing and fashioning
them in a moment in the twinkling of an eye.
Therefore, when we lose a loved one, we may weep and
sorrow for the loss of their fellowship. But, may we
ever remember that our Lord wept to bring one back,
and by contrast, rejoices when another one is called
home. I am reminded of a story once told to me that
in this country (USA) we rejoice when a child is born
and weep when one dies. But, in the country of Korea,
they weep when a child is born and rejoice when one
passes. May we rejoice in the knowledge that death is
not the final end of our existence, but may we look
beyond to the place that all the Lord's beloved will
be without the loss of one. Truly, words fail to
describe the joys and feasts of love that abound in
that blissful place. I have been asked before, "What
do you think Lazarus was telling people about heaven
after being raised back to life?" My personal opinion
is that he probably did not have words to describe the
feeling or even firm recollections as they were again
veiled from full sight. Paul was caught up to the 3rd
heaven and could not speak of things there, and John
saw visions in the heavenly throne with utterances by he seven thunders that could not be written. (II
Corinthians 12:1-4, Revelation 10:3-4) May we
earnestly press unto that day, walking by faith and
not by sight, and delight in the knowledge that we
will join with those that have gone before in the
sweet and glorious adoration unto Christ Jesus our
King.
In Hope,
Bro Philip |