Jesus Wept

Jesus Wept. This is the shortest verses in the Bible (KJV) and it is one of my favorite verses (John 11:35). Reading how Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead wonderfully and fully shows us that Jesus was fully God and fully man (John 11:1-53). Jesus received word that Lazarus was sick, but he stayed where he was at for a couple of more days. He did this intentionally. He purposefully waited until Lazarus died before He headed to Bethany. By the time Jesus got there, Lazarus had been dead for four days. Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead truly shows us that Jesus is fully God.

Our Lord and Savior waited until after Lazarus died before He got there in order to glorify God even more (John 11:4). Think about it. Jesus had performed many miracles by this time. But raising someone from the dead revealed that Jesus was God even more so than most of the other miracles. Jesus had raised two others from the dead, shortly after their demise. But Lazarus had been in the grave four days. Raising someone from the dead, especially after they had been gone so long, was more powerful than “just another healing” miracle.

Now, back to Jesus wept. Jesus tarried in order for God to be glorified. Jesus knew that He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead. Yet, when He saw His friends Martha and Mary suffering over the loss of their brother, Jesus wept over their pain. That powerfully shows us the human side of Jesus. He felt empathy and sympathy for His friends. Jesus wept. I love this verse! It truly shows us that Jesus was fully man.

But as much as I love this verse, I love the fact that Jesus was God in the flesh. I love that God first loved us. (Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:10). I am thankful that Jesus lived a perfect life. It’s wonderful how Jesus lived a sinless life. He did what you and I could never do – He kept the 10 Commandments! I am very grateful that He was willing to die for the sins of the world (1 John 2:2). I am still amazed that He took my sins and your sins upon Himself as He hung on the horrible cross for six long torturous hours. I greatly appreciate that God’s anger over my sins was poured out on the precious Savior that day. I am so thankful that the wrath of God that I rightly deserve – was taken upon Jesus Himself as He hung on that cruel cross. I just can’t express in words the gratitude that I have that Jesus Christ took my punishment for me!

Jesus died on that cross and He was buried and on the third day He rose from the grave (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). I love how Jesus, the divine One, defeated sin, death, Hell and Satan. I am very thankful that I now have everlasting life; life eternal, because I have turned away from my sins and put my faith in my Lord Jesus Christ. I love the fact that God saved me through the shed blood of Jesus, even though there wasn’t anything worthy in me. There was no goodness in me. I had and still have nothing to brag about myself.

I brought nothing to my salvation except for my sins. I only brought my pride, lusting, anger, blasphemy, adultery, stealing, lying, cheating and drinking to the feet of Jesus. Some of these sins I hadn’t committed in years. But time did not erase them. Time did not undo my past sins. Any good deeds that I have done over the years did not wipe out my sins. There was nothing that I could do to get back in a right relationship with God.

God loved me and God made me, but my sins had separated me from God. There was nothing that I could do on my own to change that. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23). There is none righteous, no not one. There is none that seeks after God. They have all become unprofitable, they have all gone out of the way. There is none that does good, no not one (Romans 3:10-12).

I was an unrepentant sinner before God saved me. I was working my way to everlasting separation from God and if I had died in my sins, I would have suffered eternal damnation for my sins; which I rightly would have deserved (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9). But thanks be to God, that He saved me. In His great mercy He saved me. He granted me repentance toward Himself and faith in Jesus Christ our Lord (Acts 20:21). God opened my eyes to the fact that I had never truly repented from my sins and that I wrongly had a cheap and a low view of grace. I had asked Jesus into my heart as a child and I badly wanted Jesus to save me from going to Hell. But I had never turned away from my sins and put my trust in Jesus. I was still living my life selfishly for myself. I still wanted to be in control. I wanted to be in charge. I didn’t recognize Jesus as Lord before I was truly saved (John 20:28).

But God granted me godly sorrow that worked repentance to salvation, instead of worldly sorrow which works death (2 Corinthians 7:10). Again, I didn’t do anything except receive the free gift of salvation once God revealed to me that I had never really been born again. God showed me that I was still an unrepentant sinner even though I went to church every Sunday. He showed me that I was still as lost as I could be, even though I had been a youth group leader and a Sunday school teacher. Thankfully God, showed me that it was by His grace that I could be saved, through faith in Jesus and that it wasn’t for any works or any goodness in me (Ephesians 2:8-9).

You can receive forgiveness for your sins (Luke 24:46-47). It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been dead in your sins, Jesus can save you (Colossians 2:13). Please keep in mind that you can’t save yourself. Lazarus stunk because he had been dead for four days. Even though he was covered in spices, he still smelled horribly bad. You can’t wash the stink of your sins off you. You can perfume yourself with all the good works in the world and it won’t take away the stench of your sins from the nostrils of God (Isaiah 1:13).

You too can receive everlasting life and you can escape the flames and the torments of Hell. Your guilty conscience can be cleared. But Jesus is the only One who can cleanse you. Only Jesus can wash away your sins (Isaiah 1:18). Only the amazing sacrifice of Jesus can wipe away your sins. Only through His righteousness can the stench of your sins be removed (Romans 5:17). But you must recognize that you are a sinner (Luke 18:13). You must recognize that God is Holy. You must recognize that there is absolutely nothing that you can do to wipe out your sins. There is nothing that you can do to make yourself right with God again. You need to recognize that you really do deserve to go to Hell and suffer God’s wrath for eternity because of your rebellion against God.

If you recognize your predicament, if you recognize that you are guilty of breaking God’s 10 Commandments, if you recognize that you need to be saved, then God can grant you repentance toward Himself and faith toward Jesus Christ our Lord (Acts 20:20-21). God can grant you godly sorrow that works repentance to salvation. Salvation is the free gift from God, but you must receive the gift (Ephesians 2:8-9). You can be saved if you call upon the name of the Lord. You can be made right with God. You can be made in right standing with God – you can be made righteous through the righteousness of the perfect One, Jesus the Christ (Romans 5:1).

You can be made just before God. You can be justified through the shed blood of Jesus our Savior (Romans 5:9). You can be saved. Are you willing to lay down your selfishness? Are you willing to let go of your pride? Are you willing to surrender your life to Jesus Christ? Are you willing to say Your will be done Lord, not mine? Are you willing to say Lord, from this day forward I give my life to You? Will you say I submit to You Lord? Whatever You ask me to do; I will do. Are you willing to bow your knee and confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord? Romans 10:9-10 says That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes to righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made to salvation.

Are you ready to be saved? Jesus is the only way of salvation. There is no other way. Jesus is the only mediator between God and man. Another Bible verse that I am very partial to is Luke 19:10, For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. Tonight, if Jesus Christ is not your Lord and Savior, then you are lost. You cannot serve two masters. Either you have repented from your sins and put your faith in Jesus or you are still a slave to sin. Which is it? Do you still love your sins? Or have you forsaken your sin and become a follower of Jesus? If you are not saved, then you are dead in your trespasses and sins. You are merely sleepwalking through life. Sure alcohol, drugs or sex may dull or ease your pain temporarily, but it won’t last. They are not a permanent solution. You will just wake up with a splitting headache or feeling lousy because you are hung over or you may end up catching a sexually transmitted disease.

Tonight, wake up! Be made alive in Christ Jesus. (Even when we were dead in sins, (God) hath quickened us together with Christ (or made alive), by grace ye are saved. Ephesians 2:5). Choose life over death. Turn away from your sins and put your faith in Jesus (Isaiah 55:7). Trust the only One who can save you. Repent and believe the Gospel. Be born again. Then with the help of Jesus through the Holy Spirit, you can turn your back on the sins you once loved. Jesus can help you overcome any addiction. Jesus can wash your sins away – no more stench. He can wash you white as snow. Your sins can be forgiven and forsaken. Please, please tonight, surrender your life to Jesus. Repent and put your faith in Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Peter 1:7-9). Jesus wept and Jesus came to seek and to save you. Please receive the free gift of salvation. It is the wise choice. It is much wiser than you weeping and gnashing your teeth for all of eternity if you die in your sins (Luke 13:28). Tonight, call upon the name of the Lord and be saved (Acts 2:21).

(This message was proclaimed in the open-air in downtown Springfield, MO on January 3rd, 2014)