Growing up with avid church-goers and attending a Christian school, it was pretty common for a smart aleck kid like me to say, “John 11:35 ‘Jesus wept’!” in response to a deeper question of “What is your favorite Bible verse?”

I never truly thought much about this piece of Scripture. These two simple words.

Jesus wept.

The Bible doesn’t say that He was upset.
Or that He got emotional.
Or that He got a little teary-eyed.
It doesn’t say that.
It says He wept.

He WEPT.

Why did the Son of God weep? Because a buddy of his, a guy named Lazarus, had just lost his life.

But why would He weep if He knew what was to happen? He knew he was going to bring his friend back to life! So why weep?

In all seriousness, this is now one of my favorite verses in the Bible. It is because of the why.

Because it shows the compassion of Jesus. The empathy of Him.
He’s not a robot. Programmed to do and do not. No. He is a person who SO LOVES people and is invested in those who call upon Him. Even a little separation from us brings Him to move toward us.

It shows His ability to empathize with us in our hardest times.

He knows us and cares for us. If we open up the Word, we can learn more about the One who knows us more fully than anyone will ever be known on Earth. He knows our inadequacies, our strengths, our regrets and sorrows, what brings us the most joy and happiness and He is for us.

He’s for us and is with us. He has compassion for us.

That compassion doesn’t end with compassion. He wants us to become the righteousness of Him. Not just be a fan of his characteristics but to enjoy those great characteristics in Him. The best thing is that he made it possible by the life He lived and the death He died followed by the resurrection. Because of Him, death has nothing on us! We’ve got life and life to the full.

It’s fun and encouraging and awesome being able worship a compassionate God.

2 Corinthians 5:21
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

-J. Wilder