I was driving along one day, deep in my thoughts, listening to K-LOVE radio station. A song came on that snapped me out of that faraway place I was lost in. I strained to understand the words, but I felt it was important and had meaning for some reason. I kept hearing the words rise and Lazarus. Later on that day, I looked up those words trying to find the song, and after several tries, I finally found it.

I always look up the words because whenever a song sticks out like that to me, I know there is a purpose. The words sparked my desire to read about Lazarus in the scriptures, and that moment was where this series began.

The scriptures I am talking about today are the first ones God pointed out to me, and He began to bring some revelation and insight I had not thought about before. Today I will share this revelation and wisdom with you, along with the song at the end of the blog post for you to hear.

³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. ³⁴ And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵ Jesus wept. ³⁶ So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” John 11:33-36 (ESV)

I read these scriptures over and over. I asked God, “Why did Jesus weep when He knew He was about to bring Lazarus back to life.” I thought if I knew that truth, I wouldn’t be sad anymore. I would be happy.

There were two things He showed me in answering that question. Jesus loved Mary and Martha deeply. They were hurting because they had watched their brother through sickness and death. God’s heart is a heart of compassion, and that is the heart we see in Jesus. He was hurting with Mary and Martha. He was sharing their pain. He was weeping with them.

God weeps with us when we are hurting. He weeps with us in our pain and brokenness. Jesus weeps with us when we see our sin for the first time, or we have fallen once again. He weeps with us as we battle in prayer for those we love. He weeps with us when we grieve, and He tells us that is what we are to do for one another.

¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Romans 12:15

The second thing He showed me as we talked about this scripture was that even though Jesus knew He would raise Lazarus from the dead, and he would make him alive again, at that moment, Lazarus was dead. He was weeping for where Lazarus was in that moment.

He sees it all. He knew back when I was wandering around in darkness and brokenness; I would return to Him. He knew He would bring my dead heart back to life. Yet, He was weeping for where I was. He was weeping with those who were watching and praying for me. He was weeping with those who were weeping for me.

There are many of those who are weeping for those who are dead in Christ right now. It breaks God’s heart even more than it breaks ours. He is standing there weeping with us and for them. I am comforted in this truth. We should be weeping for those who are dead in sin right now. We should be bringing them to our Heavenly Father and pleading for them just as Jesus has interceded for Lazarus and us.

I love that Jesus lives each moment with us. I love that God has given us the Holy Spirit to be our comforter and to be there to know how to pray for people and ourselves. I love that we have the hope that Jesus can bring these people to life, and I am thankful for the privilege of interceding for others by the power of the Holy Spirit.

It amazes my heart that God has so much to say, even in the shortest verse of the Bible. I love that I can bring these questions to Him, and He shows me what He wants me to see and understand. I encourage you to ask the questions, no matter how simple or complicated they seem. He wants to show you more of Himself.

May we take comfort knowing that Jesus is standing with us, weeping with us in our places of grief. He weeps for us and the ones we love who are dead in Christ or stuck in areas of bondage that are hurting us. God wants to free them and us. He wants to bring those dead places in us back to life, and He wants us to have compassion and breaking hearts for those things and people that break His heart.

Enjoy the song today, and may God encourage your heart!