Why Jesus Wept: The Heart Surgeon

Jesus Wept

Until recently, I didn’t quite grasp why Jesus wept.  He knew that Lazarus would rise from the dead, that his dear friends Martha and Mary would witness the greatest miracle of their lives to date.  And yet, he wept.  The simple answer is compassion.  Yet that didn’t seem to completely cover it for me.

Somehow, in the early dawn hours this morning, in an answer to prayer over a personal matter, I understood.  Unlike most humans, Jesus rarely caused pain to another because of selfishness or poor judgment.  

Like my dog when she excitedly leaps up as she is playing and gouges someone’s leg with her sharp claws, we tear each other to shreds on the regular just through the basic course of living.  And then there’s the clawing that happens in a spurt of nasty emotion, much like a cat who lashes out when they have had enough of whatever it is you are doing.  

The Surgeon

Jesus didn’t hurt others in that way.  But he did cause them pain.  Just as a civil war doctor might amputate a limb to save a life or a family may allow a loved one to hit “bottom” in the hopes that they will find recovery, Jesus intentionally caused or allowed others to feel pain.  

Most times, they didn’t understand his intentions.  Like Martha, they looked at him with eyes not entirely unlike my son’s years ago when I left him at preschool for the first time.  Eyes that had trusted you, maybe that still trust you, but that don’t understand what you are doing to them.

Even though you tried to explain.  Even though, ultimately, it would be for their own good.

And so, Jesus wept.

Jesus Problems

This isn’t a one off.  

Over the course of his ministry, Jesus left towns where people were waiting to be healed because God had called him elsewhere.  Perhaps he knew that those needs would be met in other ways.   

And still, if you think having the popcorn stand run out of popcorn right before you get to the front of the line is bad…

No wonder Jesus prayed:

“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”  
Matthew 9:37-38 (NIV)

And then there’s the hardest choice of all.  The cross.  Jesus’ disciples didn’t understand why he was intentionally going to his death in Jerusalem.  In addition to the physical pain he experienced, Jesus watched the grief in his mother’s eyes as she watched him die.  He witnessed the disciples’ fear as they saw what they understood to be Jesus’ and their life’s mission be destroyed.  He temporarily abandoned them, not once, but twice (after his ascension) to their fears for their own physical safety.

And yet…

Because Jesus chose temporary pain for those he loved, because he trusted God’s wisdom:

Thousands came to faith when Lazarus was raised.

Billions have hope, and the proof of both God’s love and their own eternal life from the lived witness of Jesus.

Those whom Jesus held nearest to his heart could not see with their Lord’s eyes.  They only saw the one that they trusted above all else putting a knife through their hearts.

One day they would understand.  One day their “hearts would rejoice and no one would take away their joy” (John 16:22).  But until then,

Jesus wept.