Let’s begin with that first point – the Death of Lazarus. Those verses set the stage for an amazing miracle. Let’s start with verses 1-16, which sets the stage for us. it stretches all the way through verse 44, so we have a lot to cover. And by the way, I’d be happy to sell you copies of this picture for ten bucks each. That’s why it’s here – so that seeing this last miracle recorded by John in the book – you will be impressed with Jesus – more, you will believe He is the Christ, the Son of God. I want you to visit the site with me and be amazed with Jesus. Well, regardless of the actual site of that empty tomb, I want to talk about this familiar story on Easter Sunday: the story of raising Lazarus from the dead. He stopped long enough to let me take this picture, but then said, “Scott, it’s well known a Muslim, realizing rich Americans would pay to see Lazarus’ tomb, found a cave in the area of Bethany, posted a sign, and he would be happy to take your money.” I wanted to stop, but our guide, my roommate, just laughed. At one point, as we were driving from Jericho to Jerusalem in the area of Bethany, we saw a sign, which supposedly marked the cave where Lazarus was buried, at least for four days. There were many interesting facts about this tomb pointing to the possibility it was His place of burial, to include that there are no DNA remains – since Jesus was raised from the dead and His body was not left to decay. We don’t actually know if it was the tomb where Jesus was buried, but it was certainly one just like it. We stayed in the Jerusalem Hotel, right across the street from what is thought to be Golgotha, the place of the skull, the mount of crucifixion. We visited what is thought to be the Garden of Gethsemane, containing olive trees over 2,000 years old. We ate at a restaurant atop the Mount of Olives, where we had a great view of the Kidron Valley, the Temple Mount and the Eastern Gate. We saw the Pool of Siloam, where He healed the man blind from birth.

We saw the Pool of Bethesda where Jesus healed the man lame for 38 years. We visited Jerusalem, where we walked the famed via Dolorosa. A short drive and we saw the Mount of the Beatitudes, where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount. We visited Capernaum, the base of His Galilean ministry. We drove through Nazareth, where He was raised. We visited Bethlehem, the place of Jesus’ birth.

He drove us around, showing us the sights.

We met one of my college roommates who had planted a church in the Arab quarter of Jerusalem. I’ll never forget our first trip, back in 2005. Tears of anger and longing were mixed with Jesus’ tears of grief.Tana and I have been privileged in recent years to visit Israel. Death had taken Lazarus, and it would take him again before it was all over. And ever since the fall of Adam and Eve, he had endured sin’s horrific destruction. But sin grieves God deeply and so do the wages of sin: death ( Romans 6:23). As God the Son who had come into the world to destroy the devil’s works ( 1 John 3:8), Jesus was about to deliver death its deathblow ( 1 Corinthians 15:26). Jesus wept over the wages of sinĪnother reason Jesus wept was over the calamity of sin. No, Jesus is sympathetic ( Hebrews 4:15) and we get a glimpse of how the Father feels over the affliction and grief his children experience. Even though Jesus always chooses what will ultimately bring his Father the most glory ( John 11:4)-and sometimes, as in this case, it requires affliction and grief-he does not take delight in the affliction and grief itself. It is true that by not speaking healing from a distance or by his delay in coming ( John 11:6) he had let Lazarus die. One reason is simply the deep compassion that Jesus felt for those who were suffering. Why? Here are four possible reasons why Jesus was weeping and troubled. But he was “greatly troubled” ( John 11:33) and he wept. So one would think that Jesus would be a confident, joyful calm in that storm of sorrow. Except that Jesus had come to Bethany to raise Lazarus from the dead. Jesus wept after speaking with Lazarus’ grieving sisters, Martha and Mary, and seeing all the mourners. The shortest verse in the Bible is John 11:35: “Jesus wept.” But for all its grammatical simplicity, it’s packed with unfathomable complexity.

Bible story christ weeping for lazarus