God Cried

“Jesus wept” (John 11:35, NIV).

I used to think as a kid that real men didn’t cry. But then I saw my Dad, tears falling from his eyes, mourning the loss of a friend, and I knew that it was okay to show emotion.

Years later, I watched a sports icon, basketball coach Jim Valvano, losing not a game, but a fight against cancer. In a speech at the 1993 ESPY sports awards, Valvano said, “To me there are three things everyone should do every day. Number one is laugh. Number two is think… Number three, you should have your emotions move you to tears. If you laugh, think and cry, that’s a heck of a day.”

Jesus, too, cried, at least once, as recorded in Scripture. In the shortest verse of the Bible we read, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35, NIV). One might wonder what sort of things God would cry about. It’s important for us to remember that while Jesus was completely divine, he was somehow, at the same time, completely human. Jesus had lost a dear friend, Lazarus, and it moved him to tears.

I’m glad these two words are included in the Bible, because they tell me that God understands and cares about the difficult things that we all go through. The author of Hebrews states, “For we do not have a high priest (Jesus) who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin” (Hebrews 4:15, NIV).

God in tears. Because he understands. I find that amazing!