The Raising of Lazarus
Upon arrival at Lazarus’ tomb, the evangelist simply tells us, Jesus wept. How Jesus’ weeping is interpreted depends on how his being ‘perturbed’ (33, 38) is understood as described above. The weeping of Mary and ‘the Jews’ is denoted by the Greek word klaiō, found forty times in the NT and eight times in the Fourth Gospel, and very often in the context of weeping and wailing. There is only one other place in the Gospels where it is recorded that Jesus wept: when he wept over Jerusalem and its impending judgment (Luke 19:41). On this occasion the common Greek word klaiō is used of Jesus’ weeping. It may be significant that the evangelist uses a different and rare word, dakryō, for Jesus’ weeping in 11:35, the only place it is found in the NT. Perhaps he is showing by his choice of this word that Jesus’ weeping was of a different order from that of Mary and ‘the Jews’. He was not joining with them in their weeping and wailing, but expressing his sorrow at the faithlessness he found all around him. Continue reading →