A Small Verse With A Big Message

 John 11:35 has the distinction of being the shortest verse in the entire Bible. It is made up of the words, “Jesus wept.” The verse is so short it is easy to think that God has nothing to teach us through it. But there is a powerful truth found in those two words. A truth that will help us deal with the emotional pain we experience in life.

The story of John chapter eleven is fairly well known. Lazarus a close friend of Jesus became very sick. His sisters Mary and Martha asked Jesus to come and heal Lazarus from his sickness. Christ purposely waited for two days before leaving knowing that his friend would be dead by the time he arrived. By the time Jesus arrived Lazarus had been dead four days.

Martha the sister of Lazarus heard that Jesus was coming and met him a short distance from the house. She told him that if had only been there four days before Lazarus had not died. These words were repeated by Martha’s sister Mary soon afterwards. In that moment as he heard the despair in their voice Jesus became overwhelmed with emotion and began to cry. He soon composed himself and after having the tomb of Lazarus opened, brought him back from the dead.

What is so important about those two little words? They stand in stark contrast to our normal response to emotional pain. There are two very common responses to emotional pain that comes through our longing for acceptance or painful situations. The first is to medicate our pain, or do anything that will take our mind off of the pain. The second is to isolate our pain.

I recently listened to a sermon on dealing with pain. In that sermon the pastor explained that most of us cover up any emotional pain that we are experiencing. There seems to be a belief that if you are struggling, nobody else can know. But why do we cover up the pain instead of sharing it with others?

Probably the biggest reason is that facing that pain in our hearts will bring more emotional pain. It is much easier to hide it deep in our hearts and not let anyone see it. The problem with this is that in time that emotional pain will begin to build up inside of us. And we will end up becoming emotional volcanoes which erupt in anger, bitterness, frustration, or self pity.

Jesus was fully God, and fully man at the same time. Because of this he was capable of experiencing emotional pain just like us. Christ knew that his dear friend Lazarus would die. He even waited a few days because he realized that death was part of God’s Will. Jesus also knew that Lazarus would rise from the dead (John 11:41-43). But as he heard the sisters of Lazarus mourn their brother his heart broke.

What did Jesus do with the pain in his heart? Did he compartmentalize it? Did he cover up his sorrow? No, instead of isolating his pain he embraced it. There is a powerful truth in John 11:35, “it is okay to show others you are hurting.” If my Lord and Savior expressed his emotional pain instead of masking it, what right do I have to isolate my hurts?