John 11:33-37 (NIV)
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.
Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
All of this grieving that was still going on even though He had come, disturbed Jesus greatly. Mary and Martha’s sight was so focused on the hopelessness of Lazarus’ death that Martha had completely missed Jesus’ promise that Lazarus would rise again, using her world-based logic to interpret the promise as applying to the resurrection at the end of time. And Jesus’ appearance had inspired no hope in Mary either, or in any of the guest who were there, even in those who knew who Jesus was and what He was capable of. To their minds death was final, and after four days, there was no hope at all, even for a miracle.
The word translated “deeply moved” actually means angered, but many translators are reluctant to attribute anger to Jesus, especially in a situation like this one. But the fact is, Jesus was actually angry. He was angry that death continued to hold sway over humanity, tearing families apart and robbing His people of hope. And He was angry that all of those people had gotten so sucked into the emotion of death that they were not even willing to be open to the fact that God has something amazing that he wanted to do there.
The frustration, yes, even anger that flooded through Jesus right then brought tears to His eyes. Even as Mary and Martha led Him to the tomb, the family and friends saw the tears on Jesus’ face, and interpreted them as tears of sadness and grief. Even the great Jesus seemed to them to be powerless and immersed in grief at that moment. If only He had come sooner, He could have healed Lazarus and kept him from dying. But now…
But Jesus was far from grieving. He knew precisely what He was going to do in the next few minutes; that this final great “sign” was going to stun everyone who was there and dispel the darkness of four-day-old death that had sucked all joy from those hearts. He would prove that He was in fact the resurrection, master even over death itself, before He raised Himself from the dead in just a few weeks.
Father, thank You that, in Jesus, even what we see as the end isn’t necessarily the end. It can, in fact, be a new beginning instead. Help us in every situation, the casual as well as the grave, to seek Your face, Your intentions for every situation, and then move forward under Your direction, so that we can see Your power, Your miracles, at work. Amen.