15th May 2026

The apostle John’s recounting of the raising of Jesus’ friend, Lazarus (John 11:1-45), the seventh of the Messianic signs around which the apostle structures his Gospel, contains the shortest verse in the Bible: ‘Jesus wept’ (v.35), which alone provides some wonderful insights and important lessons for us to consider and learn from.

The chapter opens with the uneasy combination of moving compassion and puzzling delay (vv.5-6), and closes with a surprising dichotomy of devotion and betrayal (vv.54-57). This event marks the last of the seven signs, recorded in the Gospel of John, by which Jesus’ divinity is revealed. But, in this particular passage, more than in any other, the apostle appears just as concerned to show us the tenderly real, and unashamed humanity of Christ. Nowhere in all of scripture is this more clearly evidenced than in that brief but impactful phrase ‘Jesus wept’ (v.35).

These few words unlock for us the otherwise hidden years of the one who was to be the Saviour of the world. Through the mist of Jesus’ tears, we see the infant who hungrily cried and suckled at his mother’s breast; the child who learned obedience and grew in stature through all the emotional growing pains of youth; the teenager who swotted and sweated, with concentrated effort and with calloused hands, to acquire the craft of carpentry at this father’s side; the man who carved out his own career, to become a skilled and trusted tradesman in his own right.

The tears of Bethany remind us that Jesus, while being fully God, was also fully human, with the complexity of emotions, the physical limitations, and the earthly boundaries which we all share. Like us, he could experience pain and suffering, thirst and hunger, isolation, weariness and disappointment; he was, as the prophet had foretold: ‘a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief ’ (Isaiah 53:3 ESV). Jesus was scourged and crucified, his blood poured out for our transgressions, though he was innocent and sinless. His body was hurriedly buried in a borrowed tomb until he was raised, in triumphant glory, from the grave that fated Sunday morning. When Jesus ascended into heaven he didn’t shed his humanity, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven, interceding, empathetically, on our behalf: ‘For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus’ (1 Timothy 2:5 NIV).    

It is, perhaps, comforting for us to know that, in the fullness of his humanity, our Lord and Saviour was not ashamed to cry, and it was at the sight of the tomb in which his friend Lazarus had been laid, that Jesus grieved and wept, not as others ‘who have no hope’ (1 Thessalonians 4:13), for he knew that his beloved companion would soon be raised to life. Being moved by the harsh reality of death, that breaks the human heart and rends the soul, and seeing that painful reality manifest on the tear-washed faces of the two loving sisters of Lazarus, Mary and Martha, whom he also loved, ‘Jesus wept’. Human sorrow is not measured by the volume of tears, for who can say what chasm of grief lies beneath the visible veil. “See how he loved him” (John 11:36), the onlookers were moved to sigh.

Here, in this shortest of all Bible verses, we see Jesus as our fellow-sufferer, yet one whose tears of grief did not drown out his trust in God, for it was in the knowing presence of his Heavenly Father that he poured out his human heart, and it is in the Father’s presence now, having ascended to glory, that he intercedes for all those he loves (Hebrews 7:25). Soon, there will be no sorrow or pain, no grieving or death, for Jesus, who has known the depth of human sorrow, will wipe away every grieving tear, and cause the aching sting of death to forever fade (Revelation 21:4). As Jesus himself has promised: “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God” (John 11:40 NIV) 

Local congregation:
Grace Communion Peterborough
Farcet Village Hall
Main Street
Farcet
Peterborough
PE7 3AN

Meeting time:
Sunday 11.00 am

Local congregational contact:
Richard Dempsey
Email:  richard.dempsey@btinternet.com
Local church website: GRACE COMMUNION CHURCH PETERBOROUGH – Landing Page

Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church