Jesus Wept

"Jesus wept" is the shortest verse in the Christian Bible (King James Version of the Bible) and is found in the Gospel of John, Chapter 11:35.

Cultural significance

In western English-speaking society, the phrase "Jesus wept" is a common expletive, curse or minced oath spoken when something goes wrong. Jesus's tears have figured among the Alleged relics of Jesus Christ.

Context

The phrase occurs on the death of Lazarus, a friend of Jesus. Lazarus' sisters Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus of their brother's condition. Jesus purposely arrived late in order to have his disciples learn a lesson concerning the power of God over death. Jesus, seeing her and the Jews weeping, was grieved by their lack of faith and wept in front of Lazarus' tomb. He then ordered the people to remove the stone covering his tomb, prayed aloud to God (for the benefit of the people), and ordered Lazarus to come out. The resurrection of Lazarus came to the attention of the Jewish priests and because of the many subsequent conversions of the Jewish to Jesus' teachings, this was one of the aspects that lead to their conspiracy to have Jesus killed.

Interpretation

Significance has been attributed to this phrase for a number of reasons, including the following:
  • Weeping demonstrates that the Christ was indeed true man, with real bodily functions (such as tears, sweat, blood, eating and drinking - note, for comparison, the emphasis laid on Jesus eating during the post-resurrection appearances). His emotions and reactions were real; the Christ was not an illusion or spirit (see Docetism). Pope Leo I referred to this passage when he discussed the two natures of Jesus: "In his humanity Jesus wept for Lazarus; in his divinity he raised him from the dead."
  • The sorrow felt by Jesus presages the suffering of his own crucifixion.
  • Jesus's weeping demonstrates that Lazarus had genuinely died. The raising of Lazarus was therefore not a fraud or a case of misdiagnosis.

External Link

John 11:35

 

<< PreviousWord BrowserNext >>
obed
alpen
comefrom
hogan's alley (arcade game)
burma valley, zimbabwe
cultural diffusion
roberto arlt
william wilson (short story)
demic diffusion
history of the balkans
iceberg slim
rail blue
jean friesen
dharmesh tiwari
joanna waley cohen
edgell rickword
nissan vg engine
nissan ve engine
jaguar c type
processor direct slot
the diane rehm show
nissan qr engine
mc hotdog
ottoman (furniture)
james a. barcia
lorene mahoney
beau bridges
zidane tribal
nathiagali
abbey mills pumping station
ett hl i mitt hjrta
chicago transit authority (album)
knode
chesapeake bay bridge
wiglaf
fabrication plant
gwazine class battleship
collaborative international dictionary of english
open cluster ngc 2175
chicago ii
augusto roa bastos
jacob giesbrecht
champagne charlie (play)
open cluster ngc 2204