Jesus Wept

Sermon Notes– Jesus Wept March 22 2026
You may think this is surprising, maybe even a little heretical. Throughout my life the verse “Jesus wept,” has been a benchmark, the go to verse in the whole Bible. Perhaps because I memorized it when I was four years old.
We have Jesus of the many miracles, our scripture today where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, Jesus who sacrificed himself, and Jesus whom God raised from the dead. But this isn’t the Jesus I talk to. I talk to the Jesus who cares. Who feels for me, who listens and gives me a hug. Who was with me when I was afraid. Alone. What a friend. This is the Jesus we all need right now.
Our passage takes place weeks before the crucifixion and just outside Jerusalem Jesus has become a target, “a marked man.” Jesus and the disciples had already escaped once from religious leaders. Threatened by his teaching and his followings, they were plotting against him.
Now he had gotten word that his close friend Lazarus was sick. The thought of returning so closely to Jerusalem terrified his disciples and even Jesus seems to hesitate.
This story is enveloped with love. Jesus loved Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Does he rush out to them? No. Jesus delays because he loves. But, wow, it doesn’t feel like that. It’s tense and painful. We expect Jesus to show his love by hurrying, by preventing the worst. Instead, Lazarus dies.
This is unsettling because we’ve been there. Like Mary and Martha, “Lord, the one you love is ill?” Praying, praying, praying, in hospitals, at the bedside and through our tears. Waiting for our prayers to be answered.
Jesus does not apologize. Instead, he says, “this illness does not lead to death, rather it is for God’s glory.” Glory looks different in John’s gospel. In only a few weeks it will look like a cross.
In our scripture this morning, we get a picture of what faith looks like in the face of grief and difficulty. But more importantly, we get a ringside seat to see how God is with us in our grief. Jesus beckons us to come to him in our anger, our frustration, in our sadness, and even in our fear and promises not to turn us away.
I love the courage and grit of Martha and Mary. They did not put on the happy face so many of us struggle to plaster on in the midst of devastating loss. They did not back away from what was on their minds. They confronted Jesus face to face.
Martha, lifts up her hope in the resurrection on the last day, affirming Jesus as Messiah as she stands in her grief. And Jesus assures her, “I am the resurrection and the life.” Not I will be. I am.
My heart resonates with the pain of Mary as she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”In other words, “Where the heck were you, you whom we call both Lord and friend?” Think for a moment. Do you feel that? It’s an audacious almost shocking accusation, right?
Many of us have called out to God in the same way when in despair. “Where, oh where are you, God!!! This is the cry of many of us struggling to reconcile love and loss. Does Jesus berate Mary for her audacity? Does he ignore her and walk away? Nope. None of these.
And then it comes. This most powerful verse. He joins her in her grief. “Jesus wept.” God does not dismiss death as a minor event, he grieves it. This matters more than we realize. Not every illness is reversed. Many sitting in our pews carry fresh grief. Hidden in our hearts can be decades old sorrow where the wound hasn’t healed. Jesus the divine, Jesus the human is one of us. And cares for us. Loves us and joins us in our grief.
Jesus goes on to change the sorrow of grief into a celebration of joy. This miracle ironically seals his fate as the religious leaders decide he must die. Despite this, Jesus did not hesitate to show the power of God to defeat death. Jesus previews for us there will be a Good Friday but Easter is coming.
God came in Christ to share our suffering and our joys. God comes now in Christ to share them still. We are not alone!” Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, we are told in Hebrews 13. (Heb. 13:8) Just as Jesus came to Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, he comes to us to share both our sorrows and celebrations. Know in your heart that Jesus is present when you are at rock bottom. Jesus is also here to bask with you in your successes. Jesus will be there to welcome you from this life into the next. You are not alone! To God be the Glory. Thanks be to God. Amen