WWUTT 912 Jesus Wept?

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John 1135 is the shortest verse in the Bible. Do you know what it is?

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That's right. Jesus wept. What was Jesus conveying in this show of emotion?

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When we understand the text. You're listening to When We Understand the

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Text, committed to the sound teaching of the Word of God. For questions and comments, email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

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And don't forget our website, www .utt .com. Here's our host,

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Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We continue our study of the Gospel of John chapter 11, reading the story of Jesus raising

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Lazarus from the dead. I'll begin reading in verse 17 and we'll read through verse 36.

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The apostle John wrote, now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.

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Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.

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So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him. But Mary remained seated in the house.

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Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

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But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.

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Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.

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Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.

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And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?

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She said to him, Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.

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When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, The teacher is here and is calling for you.

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And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him.

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When the Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.

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Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying,

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Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus saw her weeping, and the

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Jews who had come with her were also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.

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And he said, Where have you laid him? They said to him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept.

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So the Jews said, See how he loved him. But some of them said, Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?

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So back to verse 17, Jesus came and found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb in which he was buried for four days.

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Now it's interesting for John to note that, that it had been four days. Why did Jesus wait that long?

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Why did he wait for Lazarus to have been in the tomb for four days? I believe one of the reasons is because in the demonstration of what he was about to do raising

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Lazarus from the dead, it would be known if he could raise a man from the dead after four days, then he could certainly come back from the dead after three days.

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So I think that's part of the reason why he you know, that's that's conjecture on my part of the

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Bible doesn't say for sure if there was any particular meaning to Lazarus being in the grave for four days.

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We know that numbers have significance in the Bible, not all the time. I think we can read into numerology a little bit too much.

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But the number four in particular, usually pertains to creation. It's the number of creation.

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So four seasons, for example, summer, winter, spring, fall, and not in that order.

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What what season is it now? Spring, we're in the spring, spring, summer, fall, winter.

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There we go. So there's four seasons at one of the ways that the number four pertains to creation.

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There's also four directions, north, south, east and west. And whenever you'll read symbolically in scriptures of something coming from all directions, it will say it came from the four corners or the four winds or something to that degree.

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So that number four usually pertains to creation. And there may be significance to that here as well.

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With Lazarus having been in the tomb for four days, demonstrates Christ's power over creation and creation is subjected to futility.

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It has been cursed because of our sins. So things are progressively getting worse.

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We're subject to decay and corruption. And this was the case with Lazarus. Certainly his body, his mortal body got sick and even died.

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It's part of creation. It's part of nature, which has been cursed by God because of the sin of man.

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And so as as death is part of a fallen nature.

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So Christ demonstrates his power over this by raising a man from the dead who had been in the tomb for four days, four being symbolic of creation.

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John mentions fewer miracles in his gospel than Matthew, Mark and Luke mentioned in theirs.

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But each one of the signs of the of the seven signs that he writes about in John, each one of these is to show

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Christ's power over creation, changing water into wine, healing the official son, healing the invalid, feeding the multitude, walking on the water.

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And in that miracle of walking on the water, he even transports the disciples from the middle of the lake to the other side.

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So it shows even his power over space, time and space itself.

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And then he healed the man born blind. That was the last miracle that we read about back in chapter nine.

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So here, the last sign that John writes of is Christ raising

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Lazarus from the dead. Interesting to note that death is the last enemy. The Apostle Paul writes about that in first Corinthians, chapter 15, where he's talking about all things being placed in subjection under Christ.

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And the last enemy to be destroyed is death. First Corinthians 1526.

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So the last sign that John writes of in his gospel is

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Christ's power over death. When Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.

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Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off. And by the way, during that week that we that begins with Jesus triumphal entry, what we commonly refer to as Palm Sunday, and then with the

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Lord's Supper on Thursday night, then he was arrested, crucified on Friday. That week,

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Jesus was traveling back and forth between Jerusalem and Bethany. Likely he was staying with Mary and Martha.

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So he would go over the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem. And then in the evening, he would go back over the mountain to Bethany and stay there.

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And it was on one of those trips. He cursed the fig tree and another trip. There was the Olivet discourse in Matthew 24 and 25.

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And so anyway, we get an indication here in John 11, 18, just how close

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Bethany was when Jesus was making that journey during what we call now as Holy Week.

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So Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.

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So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him. But Mary remained seated in the house.

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Now, it's interesting that Martha was the one who went to Jesus and Mary was the one who remained seated, because in the first story that we had featuring

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Martha and Mary and Lazarus, which was back in Luke 10, Jesus was in their house.

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Mary was at the teacher's feet, but Martha was working. And she was upset that Mary wasn't helping her.

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And Martha said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?

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Tell her to come and help me. And then Jesus rebuked Martha and said, no, she's chosen the good portion.

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She's decided to be here at the feet of the teacher. And that's what you need to come and do.

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So what has happened here is perhaps Martha has become stronger of faith in Christ than Mary has.

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And Mary's kind of having, she wants to mourn where she's at. What good would it be to go and see

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Jesus now? If he had come earlier, then Lazarus wouldn't have died. Maybe Mary kind of gets up the gumption a little bit later to go and confront

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Jesus. That's what she thinks in her heart. She's going to go confront Jesus and she's going to tell him, if you had been here, then my brother would not have died.

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But when she first hears that Jesus is coming, she doesn't go meet him. Martha does, because Mary is, she's upset.

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She wished Jesus would have come sooner so that Lazarus would have been healed. Martha seems to have a little bit stronger faith, not a perfect faith though, and we see that demonstrated in her response.

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Martha said to Jesus, verse 21, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

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Mary's going to say the same thing, but Martha goes on to say, verse 22, even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.

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So she says, if you'd been here, my brother would not have died, but Jesus could have healed him from a distance.

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And Martha surely would have known that. We have that in John, in John chapter four, as a matter of fact, when

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Jesus healed the official son, he did so from a distance. He just said, go and your son will be well.

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So he could have done the same thing with Lazarus. And Martha didn't ask why Jesus didn't do that.

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She said, if you'd been here, my brother would not have died. But then she goes on to say, but even now,

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I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.

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It's almost as if Martha's demonstrating. She knows if Jesus were to just say the word here, then

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Lazarus would rise from the dead. You can bring Lazarus back from the dead.

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And Jesus had healed those who had been dead before I raised a little girl from the dead, for example.

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But no one had been in the tomb for four days like this before. This was a little bit different situation.

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So Jesus says to her, your brother will rise again. And Martha's response is,

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I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. It's almost as if Martha is saying here, what good is that, though?

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What good is it knowing that he will rise again on the last day? How does that comfort me now?

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Now in 2 Corinthians 1, verse 9, the apostle Paul says that in the sufferings that they were going through for the sake of the gospel, they thought they had received a sentence of death.

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But this was to make us rely all the more on God who raises the dead.

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So Paul understood in the midst of that persecution, the practical application of knowing that God raises the dead.

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The comfort that is in the present, knowing that our sins are forgiven and that death has no claim over us, but it makes us rely more on God.

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We know that God is the one who raises the dead. So we know that ultimately this situation is going to be for his glory.

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Nothing can be taken from us in this for even if we die, yet shall we live. So we gain something when we die.

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That's what Paul came to understand about the situation that he was in. Martha doesn't quite understand that, though, because her response seems to suggest that there really isn't any practical use for me right now to know that I will rise again in the last day.

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I still mourn because my brother is not with me. And Jesus said to her, verse 25,

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I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.

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Jesus claimed to be the resurrection and the life doesn't just it's not just merely him saying

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I can give resurrection and I can give life. He is showing the close personalness of a relationship with Christ.

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And the reward that comes from that is that resurrection itself is found in Christ.

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When you are in Christ, when you reside in Christ, when you abide in him as the way that he will put it later on when he's talking with his disciples, abide in me and I in you.

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When you abide in Christ, you have resurrection. You have a resurrected life now raised from the death that you were in and your sins and your transgressions, and you've been raised to new life spiritually.

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That has happened in your life already if you're a follower of Jesus. And then there is a resurrection that you are promised in Christ from the grave itself.

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When you die, your spirit goes to be with God. There's the resurrection of the body itself. When Christ having reconciled all things to himself, even our dead bodies will be made imperishable and our soul will be reunited with an imperishable, incorruptible body.

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All of this is wrapped up in Christ who raises the dead. In Philippians chapter three, the apostle

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Paul talks about how our lowly bodies will be transformed to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him to subject all things to himself.

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So Jesus doesn't merely say that he gives resurrection. He says he is the resurrection.

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I am the resurrection and I am the life. As he will say in John 14 6,

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I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father but by me.

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Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. The body will die.

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The soul will live. We are saved from judgment. We have forever fellowship with God.

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But then Jesus goes on, verse 26, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.

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This is Jesus saying that one must live his life for me, abiding in him, that their entire life becomes about Christ.

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He will never die. That life is forever sustained in the hand of God.

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And as Jesus said previously in the in in chapter 10, that no one is able to snatch them out of my hand.

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My father who gives my sheep to me is greater than all and no one can snatch them out of my father's hand.

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I and the father are one. So whoever believes in me shall never die, shall never be snatched from my hand.

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And then he puts this on Martha. Do you believe this? And she said to him, verse 27,

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Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God who is coming into the world.

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So she makes a claim about his divinity, saying, I believe that you are the Christ. But does she believe that Jesus can raise her brother from the dead?

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So then in verse 28, when she had said this, she went and called her sister

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Mary, saying in private because Mary didn't want to come when she heard openly that Jesus was there.

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So Martha very specifically says to her, the teacher is here and he is calling for you.

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And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now, Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him.

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When the Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.

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Now, when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him,

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Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Again, same thing that Martha said.

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But she doesn't add what Martha added when she went on to say, but even now

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I know that whatever you ask from God, God will grant to you. Mary doesn't say that.

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And immediately after saying, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. What we read in verse thirty three is when

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Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her were also weeping. He was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.

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More literally translated from the Greek, Jesus was indignant. Deeply moved doesn't necessarily mean that he was moved with compassion, although he certainly was.

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When we get to Jesus wept in verse thirty five, he is sympathizing with his sheep.

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The shepherd sympathizing with the sheep. Hebrews four fifteen says we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are yet without sin.

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So Jesus in his humanness indeed sympathize with the people around him, though he was there to raise

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Lazarus from the dead. It wasn't like he was, you know, jovial and heartless in in so doing.

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He wasn't like walking around going, oh, come on, cheer up, people. I'm going to watch this. I'm going to raise him out of the tomb. No, he sympathized with his sheep.

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He suffered with them. But here in this particular passage, verse thirty three, where it says that he saw

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Mary weeping and he was deeply moved in his spirit. He was indignant, meaning that Jesus was angry.

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It doesn't mean that he was angry at Mary. He was angry at the effects of sin.

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The wages of sin is death. Romans six, twenty three. And remember, death is an enemy.

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So Jesus was moved with sympathy toward his children that he hated death and also on Jesus mind was what was going to come here in just a couple of weeks.

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He was going to be arrested. He was going to be tried. He was going to be crucified, laying his own life down for his sheep and taking the wrath of God upon himself.

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But this was Jesus waging war against that enemy death, taking away the sting of death for all who would believe in him.

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So this is Jesus feeling in this moment that he is seeing Mary weeping and and also the people who are around him.

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And he was deeply moved in his spirit, was greatly troubled. And he said, where have you laid him?

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And they said to him, Lord, come and see. And then it says in verse thirty five, Jesus wept all this flood of emotions on his humanity, the the sympathizing with the people who were there with people he loved,

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Mary and Martha and the indignation that he had toward death itself.

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The anxiety that was hanging over him as he was about to go to the cross and experience the wrath of his father in heaven.

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All of these things, kind of a flood of emotions comes upon Christ. And in verse thirty five, Jesus wept.

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It's the most famous passage of Jesus emotion that we have in the

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Gospels of Jesus display of emotion. But it's not the only place he weeps. He also weeps over Jerusalem after the triumphal entry.

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And I'll talk about that coming up when we get to it here in John, although it's mentioned in Luke, Jesus weeping over the city of Jerusalem.

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So now, verse thirty six. So the Jews said, see how he loved him. They see

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Jesus weep. They say he loved Lazarus, but some of them said, could he not? Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind also have kept this man from dying?

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So the people who were there did not understand the show of emotion from Jesus there.

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The people didn't get it. They couldn't read his emotions. They didn't know what it meant. But then look at what it says in verse thirty eight.

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We'll pick up here tomorrow. Jesus deeply moved again, indignant.

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It's like he goes to the tomb in frustration and he stands there again, showing the power that he had over death to say,

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Lazarus, come out and conquering death. He brought Lazarus forth out of the tomb.

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And we'll bring that climax to light tomorrow when we come back to this particular passage.

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Let's close with prayer. Our wonderful God, we thank you for the resurrection that we have in Jesus Christ.

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And may we come to understand that everyone who lives, who lives for Christ, who takes up a cross daily and follows after him, we live for him.

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We die to ourselves. We live for Christ. May we all come to understand that whoever believes in Jesus shall never die.

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And may that be a comfort to us now. It's not just something we're looking at in the future. But what what practical use is that for me now?

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But even the trials and the struggles and anything else we would go through today, may we count it all joy when we endure trials of many kinds, for it produces steadfastness.

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But these things also draw our eyes all the more toward you, that we may rely on the one who raises the dead.

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If you will raise us from the dead, then you are God even over this moment and situation right now.

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And we place our trust and our full reliance upon you. Give us strength today.

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May we proclaim your praises with our whole lives. In Jesus' name.

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Amen. Gabriel Hughes is the pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas. Find out more online at www .tt