Real men cry. Masculine men cry. Our culture tries to convince us that tears are a sign of weakness, and that truly masculine men are supposed to be stoic and unemotional. Yet Jesus himself, the all-time epitome of masculinity, wept without restraint. When something moves the God of the universe—who never changes or loses control—to this much emotion, we should have no issue with those things moving us to tears as well.
Was Jesus simply mourning the fact that his friend Lazarus had died? I am convinced it was deeper than that. When the text says he was deeply moved, a better translation would be “outraged.” In this one moment, Jesus was overwhelmed by the chaos and injustice and suffering that ran rampant in his beloved creation, and he broke down. Things were not the way they were supposed to be. Even as he was willing to allow evil to flourish so as to ultimately accomplish the glorious purposes of his Father, the horrors of what that first had to bring about outraged and grieved Christ Jesus with immense pain.
But the thing that really wrecks the king of the universe is how much pain the disordered world inflicts upon those whom he deeply loves. Lazarus whom he loved was dead. Mary whom he loved was despairing. If he wasn’t working all things together for an ultimate good, Jesus would never want this suffering to happen to them! This is how much our Lord loves even us. When we suffer, he loves us so much that he suffers with us, and he suffers to the point of agony and tears. We are far from alone in our pain.
As Tim Keller argues, whatever the reason that God is allowing suffering, it can’t be because he doesn’t love us. He loves us deeply. The things that grieve us grieve him just the same. Our God is not aloof but weeps with us! Is that not a great comfort? Even though he has the end in mind, and is leading us through evil into a great and glorious destiny in which every tear is wiped away, the suffering we endure in the meantime pains him greatly. We have a God who weeps with us in our suffering. Be comforted and see how much he loves us.
