The shortest verse in the Bible is perhaps the most spiritually and existentially moving in the entire self-revelation of God in Christ Jesus: "Jesus wept." (John 11:45) For all its grammatical simplicity it is packed with unfathomable complexity. Can God weep? How can God weep? Why does God weep? What does God weeping mean for us?
There is a controversial principle of theology called the Impassibility of God. The doctrine basically states that God can not experience pain or pleasure from the actions of another being since he is absolutely independent of any other being. While some aspects of the doctrine of impassibility are self-evident, the doctrine as a whole falls flat in and through the mystery of the incarnation where God--of his sovereign and supreme will--chose to take on human flesh in the God-revealing person of Jesus Christ thereby taking onto himself the full-range of human experience. And it is telling that in the relatively high Christology of the Gospel of John, we find the very low Christology of Jesus expressing and being moved by human emotion. So yes, God does experience pain despite the fact that he is completely other and non-contingent on his creation. This is, of course, a great mystery. To speak of such things is a necessary theological hubris but, speak of them we must. Now, this begs the question, "why did Jesus weep?"
The full range of human (Jesus was fully human as well as fully divine) emotions is a complicated thing. Sometimes human emotions overlap, synthesize, overlay and underlay. For example, we may feel anger but frequently find that anger is merely a more acceptable response than the real underlying emotion of sadness; the real feeling which we refuse to, or are unable to acknowledge. Human emotions are an imprecise science. Still, we can look at the narrative of today's Gospel and arrive at some conclusions about why Jesus wept.
Of course, Jesus must have been saddened by the death of his dear friend Lazarus. All of us have experienced the extreme pain resulting from the death of a loved one. We grieve, we are sad, we cry. No doubt there is some of this going on in Jesus' internal conflict. Yet, I do not think that this is the principle reason that Jesus was moved to tears: he must have certainly known that he was about to raise Lazarus from the dead; "This illness is not to end in death" he proclaimed when he found out of his friend Lazarus' affliction. No, Jesus, while certainly aggrieved by the death of his friend, wept, not because of Lazarus' death, but rather, because of the sheer and vivid pain that he encountered in Mary, Martha and the assembled mourners. This reveals God's amazing compassion for those who suffer.
Jesus wept. He wept because he felt, down to the marrow of his bones, the pain of those around him whom he loved. Our loving God is deeply concerned about us as individuals and the suffering that we go through. He, quite literally, feels our pain. Our God is "near to those that are broken at heart; and those who are crushed in spirit he saves (Ps. 34:15, 18).
It is a awe-inspiring thing that God-while not providing a quick fix to our suffering through which we learn and grow-is present with us in such a way as to provide, not only consolation but rather, the kind of empathy that recognizes his own as well as our own suffering-- and, mysteriously, participating in it. This, in turn guides and instructs us in developing our compassion for others.
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