Showing EmpathySample

When Jesus Didn’t Have to Weep 

One thing that makes Jesus so remarkable is the fact that He left the perfection of Heaven to come to our aid on earth. He came to earth to be born a man and experienced the hardship that comes with that. And in this, He was able to empathize with the people around Him.

John 11 tells of a story about some dear friends of Jesus. He’d grown quite close to the sibling trio of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. In fact, we’re told in John 11:5 that Jesus loved them. Outside of the relationship Jesus had with His disciples, these three may have been His closest friends. So, it would make sense to us that when word got to Jesus that Lazarus was sick, He’d come immediately, right? Nope. He waited two days. Those two days were heartbreaking for Mary and Martha. 

But Jesus knew God’s plan all along. He knew that Lazarus’s sickness would not “end in death” (John 11:4 NIV) and that He was going to “wake him up” (John 11:11 NIV). Jesus didn’t fret that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. He saw the entire picture from the beginning and at the perfect time, finally made the journey to see Mary and Martha. Here’s the exchange between Jesus and Mary:

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept. John 11:32-35 NIV

Jesus wept. The shortest verse in the entire Bible, yet so telling about our Savior. It reinforces that Jesus was fully God and fully man. He knew that Lazarus would not stay dead, and that the lives of His followers would never be the same after this. Yet, He cried. He felt their pain and felt His own. 

Sometimes in life, we are witnesses to hard things. We watch someone suffer, but we’re confident they’ll come out better on the other side. It could be a friend we’re helping or a child we’re raising. We see the big picture and even have a good idea of the outcome. But in those moments, instead of trying to make everything better, we need to take a minute and sit in discomfort with the hurting person. Our Savior did. 

Empathy breathes life into people’s healing. Let’s be a breath of hope to someone who just needs to be seen in their darkness.