What is the significance of John’s isolated account of this miracle? The Evangelist prefers to call Jesus’ miracles “signs,” and the resurrection of Lazarus was Jesus seventh sign. Clearly a major emphasis of this account is to demonstrate Jesus authority over death. Christ had already expressed the purpose of the event in John 11:4 saying, “This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” However, as the story unfolds Jesus acknowledges that “Lazarus has died” (vs. 14). The very next verse provides the explanation: “I’m glad for you that I wasn’t there so that you may believe.”
The Evangelist wrote the Gospel for one singular purpose: “but these are written so that you may believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31). He stressed that Jesus’ miracles were signs of authority of God’s anointed One—the Messiah, and that Jesus came to bring life to those who believe.
Yet how is John 11:35 illuminated with respect to the purpose of the Gospel? Many commentators and preachers have long contended that Jesus was sympathizing with the mourners. They suppose that Jesus had deliberately waited until Lazarus died in order to experience the pain of their loss. Of course we find out early on that Lazarus was a friend of Jesus: “…Lord, the one You love is sick” (John 11:3). It also is true that the mourners observed Jesus’ tears and concluded that he was overcome with grief for his friend: “So the Jews said, “See how He loved him” (John 11:36).
However, some careful examination of the text is now required. First, the reader must avoid drawing conclusions on the response of the crowd. While clearly they observed Jesus’ visible emotion, the Evangelist writes a startling detail that provides more clarity:
John 11:33-34
33 When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, He was angry in His spirit and deeply moved. 34 “Where have you put him?” He asked.
“Lord,” they told Him, “come and see.”
The Holman Christian Standard Bible renders this stronger than most translations: “He was angry.” John 11:38-39 repeats this surprising reaction from Jesus:
38 Then Jesus, angry in Himself again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 “Remove the stone,” Jesus said.
While other translations render it as “deeply moved” or “groaned,” the translators of the HCSB followed bolder scholarship in its rendering:
“He was angry in the spirit and distressed,” has controlled German interpretation to the present day, which generally departs from it only by way of stronger expression (cf. the Zürich Bible: “Er ergrimmte im Geist und empörte sich” = “He became angry in the spirit and was disgusted”; Heitmüller, “Er ergrimmte innerlich und brachte sich in Harnisch” = “He was inwardly angry and became enraged”). Such is the interpretation followed by Bultmann, Büchsel, Strathmann, Schnackenburg, Schulz, Haenchen, and Becker in their commentaries" (Beasley-Murray, G. R. Word Biblical Commentary: John. Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2002. Page 192.)
This provides increased clarity in Jesus’ emotional state: the weeping Messiah is hard pressed to be merely in sympathy with the mourners. Moreover, he is not personally in despair over his friend; there is a deeper reason for his outburst.
Until his anger is understood his tears will likewise be shrouded from its true significance. Beasley-Murray contend that Jesus was deeply moved to anger over their disbelief in God’s anointed Messiah—the Messiah who had already demonstrated six powerful signs. “It was this unbelief of the people of God in the presence of him who is the ‘Resurrection and the Life,’ arrived among them to call their friend and brother from the grave that made Jesus angry” (Beasley-Murray, G. R. Word Biblical Commentary: John. Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2002. Page 193).
If this interpretation is correct, then his tears certainly fall in new light. Beasley-Murray stress that Jesus came to the tomb with a purpose; his purpose was not to mourn, but to glorify God as the live-giving Messiah—the authorized Messenger and Savior. At the same time it is likely that Jesus was not wholly unmoved by the sight of despair, and his tears seem to mix indignation and frustration with “grief over the tragedy of the human situation, from which not even the people of God can extricate themselves” (Beasley-Murray, G. R. Word Biblical Commentary: John. Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2002. Page 194). Thus, Jesus wept for the larger human condition and not merely for Lazarus. His anger over disbelief is balanced with grief that even those who do believe are affected by this world’s pain that results from evil.
The glory of the Gospel is that Jesus overcame death (John 20-21). This good news that Jesus preached before his Passion was fulfilled because of his Passion. Jesus willingly suffered the cross to put an end to death’s final tyranny for those who believe (“…by believing you may have life in His name” John 20:31). The author of John would not have you think Jesus wept for Lazarus, but rather for you. For those who believe he weeps when we live in ignorance of our hope. For those who do not believe he cries over their unbelief. Jesus wept. Ask yourself why.
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