Paul also clearly wrote that “ the wages of sin is death” in Romans 6:23.Īs Christians, we often forget that death is an enemy. The Apostle Paul confirmed the correlation between sin and death: “ Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” ( Romans 5:12). Because Adam directly disobeyed this command, God punished all humanity beginning with Adam: “ ‘In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken for dust you are, and to dust you shall return’” ( Genesis 3:19). At the beginning of creation, “ the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die’” ( Genesis 2:16–17). Just as in the example from Luke 16:19–31, there were some who would not believe even though they saw a man rise from the dead.Īlthough John 11:35 does not tell us specifically why Jesus wept, we can infer one reason from the context: Jesus was grieved over death as the result of mankind’s sin. Jesus knew that some would believe on Him from this moment on, but many would still disbelieve and even report His miracle to the Pharisees. Jesus had told Martha that Lazarus would rise again, and many of the Jews there had probably seen Jesus perform miracles, yet they questioned why He hadn’t prevented one of His dearest friends from dying. When we read that we are to weep with those who weep ( Romans 12:15), we can clearly see that our Lord and Savior demonstrated that kind of empathy here.īut we read further in John 11:35–38 that Jesus was weeping and still groaning within Himself, this time in response to death itself and the disbelief of the people. Clearly Jesus was affected by the grief of his close friend Mary and the rest of the Jews who were lamenting with her and Martha. When we read that we are to weep with those who weep, we can clearly see that our Lord and Savior demonstrated that kind of empathy here.īut when Jesus arrived in Bethany and saw the family and friends of Lazarus grieving, why did Jesus weep ( John 11:33–35)? He certainly knew that Lazarus would soon be alive again-it was for this purpose that He had come to Bethany. Jesus anticipated the Resurrection that He would perform as a sign to His disciples, that they might believe ( John 11:11–15). Though He could have healed Lazarus (even from a distance), He told His disciples that He was glad He was not there. Jesus delayed visiting Lazarus when he was sick, knowing that Lazarus would die. It seems a logical question to ask ourselves then, why did Jesus weep and lament? What was it that saddened the Savior? What can we learn from Christ’s sorrow? Jesus wept because of man’s sin and the death it brought. We read in the New Testament that there were occasions when Jesus wept and also when He lamented.
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