I want to look at some portions of this
chapter this morning with you. Mainly, I want to think here
about verse 35. But I won't deal much with that
at the beginning of my message. Here in John 11, verse 35, is
a very interesting statement that was made concerning the
Lord Jesus. Jesus wept. Jesus wept. The shortest verse in the Bible.
And my statement concerning this this morning would be this, and
this is what I want to try to comment on this morning. That
when Jesus wept, He was as much God then as he did that, as he
was when he said, I am the resurrection and the life. He was as much
God when he wept as he was when he said, Lazarus, come forth.
And he that was dead came forth. There are some errors, I think,
to be errors concerning God concerning what's in his heart. I don't
know what to call it. I call it his feelings. Some would almost forbid you
to say that God has emotions or that God has passions within
him. So I don't know sometimes what
to call these things. What do you call it when God's
sympathy is stirred up and bubbles over within him. What do you
call that? That happens. There are two eras,
I think, that men are apt to make concerning these feelings
that are in the heart of God. The first era, I think, is this,
that some would have us to believe that God is ruled by emotions,
or He is ruled by passions of some kind. that he is so anxious
that he's sitting up there in heaven, that he's set everything
in motion, but it's got out of his control, sort of. And because
of that, he's got anxious, he's wringing his hands, and he's
just hoping, he's praying, he's wishing that things turn out
well for everybody. Well, that's sad, isn't it? That's
sad. That's not what I'm talking about
this morning. When I'm talking about if there's emotions, if
there's passion in God, that can be stirred up. It's certainly
not that. But I think there's an error
also in the other side, in which even some of our dear Puritan
fathers went too far with, and that's this ideal that God some
way and somehow is stoic. that he has no heart of emotions,
that he has no heart to feel joy or grief, that he's indifferent,
that he's even aloft, that nothing affects him and nothing moves
him. He's almost like some dictator,
some despot that he's in his mansion up on the hilltop, and
all he's concerned about is his servants serving him, and it's
beneath him to even consider the common people or their plight. Well, that's sad too, isn't it?
That's sad too. The Scripture tells us very plainly
that God can feel, that He does have these feelings within Him.
The Scripture tells us that when He looked upon the old world
and He saw that it was corrupt through the sin of man, that
it grieved Him at His heart. And the Scripture says that the
children of Israel often vexed. the Spirit of God. And Jesus
Christ was grieved at the hardness of men's hearts and their unbelief. And sometimes you and I read
in the Scriptures that the Lord Himself bubbles over, as it were,
with joy. Listen to what He said in Isaiah
65 and verse 19. in Zephaniah 3. He says, I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
and I will joy in my people, and the voice of weeping shall
be heard in her no more, nor the voice of crying. And listen
to how he says it in Zephaniah 3. The Lord thy God in the midst
of thee is mighty, he will save, he will rejoice over thee with
joy. Now, that's a manner that we
don't speak in. We don't say things like that.
We say something like, I'm bubbling over with joy. I'm exceedingly
full of joy. When the Lord says it of Himself,
He says, I will rejoice over thee with joy. Rejoice with joy. His joy is rejoicing. His rejoicing is full of joy. And he will rest in his love,
and he will joy over thee with singing." There is these feelings
in God, isn't there? I remember when the Lord told
us this parable, there in Luke chapter 15, when the shepherd
found his sheep, what did he do? He rejoiced. And he said,
come and rejoice with me. I found my sheep. The woman that
found the coin, it said that she rejoiced and she called her
neighbors together and said, Rejoice with me. And the father,
when the prodigal came back home, the scripture says he rejoiced. And the scriptures even said
they danced and had music. And all these things, I think,
and more that we can find in the Scripture, they depict to
us that God is not some despot. He's not some cold dictator in
his mansion on the hill that's not concerned, that's never touched
with the plight of his people. He does have these feelings within
his heart. And he can be stirred up. God
gave the promise to the church in the Old Testament, in the
book of Isaiah chapter 62, and listen to what he said. This
is a promise that he made to the Jewish church. He said, for
Zion's sake, I will not hold my peace. And for Jerusalem's
sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth
as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy
righteousness, and all the kings of the earth your glory. And
thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the
Lord shall give thee." And the church read this promise. in
the 62nd chapter of Isaiah. And they became so anxious that
they went to the Lord in prayer, and in chapter 63, here is what
the church said to the Lord. Look down from heaven, and behold
from the habitation of your holiness and your glory, where is your
zeal and your strength? You say you're going to do this.
Stir up your zeal. Manifest your strength. Where
is the sounding or the yearning of your bowels, your inward affections,
and of your mercies toward us? Are they restrained? What were
they wanting to do? This seems strange to us, and
I think here's where a lot of the commentators just won't go
this far. But I have no problem with it.
I have no problem with it. The church was seeking to stir
the Lord up. They were seeking to stir up
this compassion, this love, this mercy, His zeal and His strength,
that He may perform this great promise. So they go to Him and
they said, Lord, where is this? Where is these attributes that's
in you? Where is your strength? Where
is your zeal? Where is that compassion? Stir
it up! Stir it up! Or be feeling about
it. Could we talk to the Lord that
way? I know there is a sense, a very
definite sense, in which He is there in Heaven and nothing shakes
Him, nothing bothers Him. But I know this too, brothers
and sisters, that He sets Himself forth to us in such a way that
makes us know that He can be touched. He is touched. somehow difficulty believing
that God sometimes reacts to man. I think free will has beat
us off, or Arminianism has beat us off from some of these things
that's good. And we say God never reacts. But He does, doesn't He? Sometimes
he reacts in a positive way towards man, and sometimes he acts in
a negative way towards man. He saw the wickedness of man
that he had corrupted the whole earth, and what was his reaction? I will destroy man whom I have
made. He tells Abraham, I'm going down
to Sodom. I'm going down to check the cities
of Gomorrah and the cities of the plain. I'm going to see if
it's all together as it has been told me. And if it's so, then
I'll know it." And then his angel says, he sent us to destroy this
place. That was his reaction. But Lord,
what if there's fifty? What if there's ten righteous
men? Then I'll react differently. But he reacts, doesn't he? There
are other times when God turns from the destruction He's ready
seemingly to bring because He sees men's repentance as He did
to men. There are other times we're told
in the Scriptures that He turns from His wrath and destroys them
not. Now, what am I saying? Well,
I'm saying this. You can't put God in a box. You
can't put God in a box. You just cannot predict how He's
going to act or react in any certain situation until He's
acted. In some situations, He exercises
long-suffering. And in other situations, He renders
judgment quickly, even immediately. He told Moses, You're not going
into the land of Canaan, Moses. Boy, there was nobody in that
congregation that wanted to see the land of Canaan more than
Moses. And he begged the Lord like a little child to go in
and see the land of Canaan. And the Lord said, Because you
didn't honor Me there at the rock when I told you to speak
to it and you smote it twice, you're not going in. And by the
way, Don't ask me again. Why? Don't ask me again. Sometimes the Lord, He exercises
great long-suffering towards a sinful man for years. The man lives in his sin. He
serves the devil. He hates God. And God lets him
live to be an old man before He takes him away from this earth.
There's a young teenager, and the Lord brings judgment
upon him immediately and takes him away. And then there's another
man that's no different, no better, or no worse than the first two.
And the Lord extends tender mercy to that man. He awakens that
man. He gives him light in his understanding. He shows him his need of Christ
and salvation, and he brings him to repentance and faith. There are others, and I often
think of some that are here this morning when I think of this.
God gives them all the means that would be profitable to them.
He gives them the Bible. They've got one sitting on their
desk at home. He gives them a place to worship. He gives them a preacher to preach
to them Sunday after Sunday. He's good to them. Sometimes
he warns them by sending pain to their body. He's long-suffering
to them. He extends that long-suffering
for years and years, and then he calls them to account. And
he says, what have you done with the means that I've blessed you
with? He says to them like he did to
the children of Israel. I sent you prophets, I gave you
My Word, I gave you the priesthood to teach you of Myself. How often
I would have taken you under My wings as a hen does her brood,
and you would not. Now your house is left unto you
desolate. And I think it's these people
that have been blessed with all these means whose memory will
eat them alive throughout eternity. But God does this. Why am I saying
all of this? What does it have to do with
the story that I read to you this morning? It's this, brothers
and sisters. You and I know little of what's
in the heart of God. How little we know of Him. We know Him in Christ because
He has made Himself known to us, but how little we know of
Him, we best therefore not be presumptuous. You cannot put
God in a box. You cannot determine what He
is going to do, how He is going to react in any given situation. I would imagine when Martha and
Mary sent for the Lord to come, I imagine their thoughts were,
he'll be here as soon as he can get here. But they were wrong with it.
They had no idea what was in his heart. They had no idea what
his purposes were. My thoughts are not your thoughts.
My ways are not your ways. Oh, the depths of the riches
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are
His judgments and His ways past finding out. Listen to how Job
said, Can you by searching find out God? Can you find out the
Almighty to perfection? It is high as heaven. What can
you do? It is deeper than hell. What
can you know? The measure thereof is longer
than the earth, it's broader than the sea. If he cut off,
if he shut up, if he gathered together, who then can hinder
him? For he knows vain man." It seems to me that our only
safe recourse is to humble ourselves in His presence. To come before
Him honestly and broken in our hearts. That's the only safe
way to approach unto this God. He saveth such as be of a broken
heart and a contract spirit. Draw near to God. God resists
the proud. and he giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under
the mighty hand of God." That seems to me, brothers and sisters,
the only way to approach unto this God. We love the way this story ends
that I read to you. It ends here with the Lord in
the midst of sympathizing with them with tears. Standing there
in the mist, taking control. He took control, didn't he? And it ends with him raising
Lazarus from the grave. But let's go back to the way
this story began. And let's see the course quickly
that Mary and Martha take in seeking the Lord to come to their
aid. And I tell you, I think you and
I can learn something about how to seek Him. Do we want Him? Do we need Him? I think we can
learn something from these two sisters, how they sought Him. And the first thing you see here
in verse 2 is this. And I just mentioned it in the
last thing I said. Notice where you always find
this young woman marry. And there's a reason for this.
Everywhere you see this woman, she is said to be at His feet. I tell you, if you can put God
in a box, you've got Him all figured out, you know what He's
going to do, and you know His judgments, then you go ahead
and walk up to Him And you boldly confront him. But I'm telling
you what, if he's a mystery to you, if you reverence him, if
you fear his judgment, here is the best place to come. At his
feet. When the Lord Jesus came and
Mary went out to meet him, where do you find her? She got down
at his feet. You remember when he went to
their house to eat, and Martha was much cumbered about her cooking
and serving? You remember where you find Mary?
Sitting at His feet, hearing His Word. The second thing we find here
is this. I want you to notice how they pleaded with the Lord.
How they approached Him to Him. We find that here in verse 3.
Therefore his sister sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he
whom thou loveth is sick. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Boy,
they were troubled, weren't they? He was sick. He was bad sick. And they were troubled. And they
wanted the Lord Jesus to come and rescue them from their trouble. But notice how they appealed
to the Lord. They didn't say, Lord, we're
in deep, deep trouble. Our hearts are broken. We're
afraid we're about to lose our brother. His fever is high. He's
suffering so much. We need you so desperately. They
couldn't have went that route. Others have pleaded their misery, but I want you to notice how
they did this. They put the whole burden of their sorry situation
upon the love of Christ for Lazarus. Oh, they could have pleaded their
misery. We do that. But they pleaded something they
knew to be in Christ. And what was it? Love. Love. They sought to stir up. They sought to draw out that
which they knew was in Him. Love. And how did they seek to
draw this out and stir this up but simply by reminding Him of
it? Lord, He whom thou lovest is
sick. Well, that's what he came down
to, wasn't it? They knew what was in Christ's heart. Love for
Lazarus. So they just pleaded that by
reminding him. Brothers and sisters, do you
and I know this morning what's in the heart of God? Do we have
any idea what's in the heart of God? Yes, we do, because the
Bible tells us. Love is in his heart. Is it not? God is love. Do you think we could draw that
out? Do you think there's ever occasions that we can plead that
by reminding him of it? Old Scott Richardson said one
time, God loves to be reminded of who He is and what He's able
to do. And that's what preaching is.
Just reminding God Those blessed old disciples, those apostles,
they went to the Lord in prayer. They were ready, seemingly, to
be stamped out and stomped out. They were told, if you preach
in His name anymore, you'll suffer the consequences. They get together
as a church. They bow before the Lord in prayer
and have them approach Him by simply reminding them of who
He was. O Lord, Thou art God. What a way to approach unto Him!
What a way to plead! What a way to plead for help
and deliverance! Lord, there's love in Your heart
for this man. We plead it. We cast the burden
of our situation upon Your love. Isn't there goodness in the heart
of God? The Bible says He's good. He's
long-suffering. He cares. He is full of understanding
and wisdom. Set our need over against these
things. Everything that you and I need
for our salvation, keeping us, everything that we need for our
present and eternal happiness is in God. Is it not? Then let us plead it like this,
O Father, I am a poor child. You are full of pity. Isn't that
a wonderful plea? O Lord Jesus, I am exceeding
weak. Your grace is sufficient. Lord, my understanding is so
darkened. Lord, You are my light and my
salvation. Lord, my enemies are cometh on
me. Lord, your present help in the
time of trouble. Lord, my heart is sinking. Lord,
you're the rock of ages. Lord, I feel so alone and lonely. Lord, you said I'll never leave
you or forsake you. Take our need and set it over
against those divine, loving, caring attributes that we find
in His heart. And by this, seek to stir it
up within Him. I think that's a good way to
plead. It got results, didn't it? Plead what's in Him. My little granddaughter came
home from school, and I was sitting on the couch reading. Finally,
she came over to me, little Cece, and she said, Poppy, I'm hungry. Poppy, I'm hungry. And I saw
it in her eyes. She could have said, Poppy, would
you fix me a sandwich? Poppy, would you open me a can
of soup? But she just came over and said, Poppy, I'm hungry. What was she doing? In her childlike
wisdom, she was pleading my natural love and care for her. She didn't have to say anything
else. She put the full responsibility
of satisfying her need upon her puppy who loves her and cares
for her. And I tell you, I'm glad and
happy and I'm able to accept that responsibility. And if I
feel that way about my little granddaughter, does not the Father,
the Eternal God, feel that way about His children? Lord, He
whom thou lovest is sick. That's enough then, isn't it?
What did they do? They stirred up this love. They
reminded Him of it. Sometimes, brothers and sisters,
that's the best way to plead. This is what they said, and they
got a response. Not immediately, but eventually.
First, he seemed somewhat indifferent, didn't he? It only seemed that
way. He's got his own purposes, you
see. You don't know what's in his heart. We don't know how
he's going to act, what he's going to do. He's out of our
control. That's why we approach Him as
they did, at His feet, humbly, pleading those things which are
in Him. Finally, here He is in their
midst, and He takes charge and gives them this wonderful demonstration
of His sympathy and His life-giving power. Now, here in verse 35,
let me say something about this and see if you can stay with
me. I haven't already lost you. Jesus wept. Now, if you study
all the commentaries that I've ever read, they have some good
things to say about this verse. Jesus wept. Most will say something
like this. He truly sympathized with them. He was touched with the feelings
of their infirmities. He showed himself to be full
of compassion and love. And all of this, they tell us,
arose to the surface and overflowed in tears, in outward expressions
of what was in his heart. And they realized it. Because
they said, surely, he must have loved this man. How he loved
this man. What made them say that? with
these tears, this sorrow, this expression of sympathy, how he
must have loved him. But the commentators do this. They limit this weeping. They
limit this whole attitude of sympathy and the expression of
it to the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. They say this is
Jesus in His humanity. Of course it is. Of course it
is. But who is Jesus in His humanity? Is He not God? Is He not called the fullness
of the Godhead bodily? In this man and his humanity
dwells the eternal perfections of God? Would you be offended
with me this morning if I told you verse 35 was one of the most
God-like things that Jesus Christ ever did? Jesus wept. Look at Him closely. Get this
picture in your mind. His lips began to quiver, his
eyes welled up with tears, his face swells, and suddenly, suddenly
he burst out with this display of emotions, of tears like rivers
running down his holy cheeks. Is this Jesus in his humanity? Yes, but it's more than that. It's ten thousand times more
than that, incomprehensibly more than that. This is the eternal
God, brothers and sisters. This is the everlasting Father, swelling over, bubbling over,
running over. with the sympathy of His heart
towards His burned people. This is the Father showing His
divine compassion through His Son. This is the Eternal God
speaking to us through His Son. If you see me, You've seen the
Father. Who do we see standing there
weeping? Is it not the Father? Does not the Father teach us
of Himself? Does not the Father reveal Himself
through the Son? Does He not say, Here's what
I'm like in my heart. You can't look upon me. You can't
know me in my heart, so I'm going to reveal what's in my heart,
and I'm going to do it through my Son. You want to know me? The only way you can know me
is in my Son. What kind of God is He? Look
at the Son. There's where God is known. The eternal God had no physical
lips to tremble. He had no lips to tremble with
sympathy until Jesus takes our humanity. God had no physical
eyes to gush out with tears until His Son takes our likeness. He
had no countenance to express His joy toward us except in the
cheeks of His Son. He had no breast for His disciples
to lean upon. He had no waist to gird Himself
with a towel and stoop and wash His disciples' feet. He had no
hands or feet to be pierced. He had no back to give to the
smiters. He had no face for His beard
to be plucked until His Son took our humanity. And in that humanity,
the eternal God has all of these things. And it's through His
humanity we see the eternal God. His heart is revealed to us. What is in His heart for His
suffering people? Oh, such feeling. Such sympathy. He is so touched. that he expresses it in tears. Oh, that's God. That's God. Somebody asked me one time, they
said, will we see the Father when we get to heaven? Will we
see the Father when we get to heaven? And I said, the same
way the disciples saw Him, if you've seen me, you've seen my
Father. Jesus Christ is the only God
that can be seen. It's only through Him that we
can know God and what God is like. At the last day, That great
day of judgment when Jesus Christ sits upon His throne, there will
be a manifest expression of divine love when the saints hear, Come
ye blessed of my Father. And what will make them feel
so welcome is they will share it through the lips of the Son
of God. through His humanity. It will
be the tone of His voice. It will be the glitter in His
eyes. It will be the smile upon His
face. It will be His countenance in
His humanity. And by His humanity and through
His humanity, we'll see the expressions of God Himself. And never will
we feel more welcome than when Jesus Christ speaks to us, because
that's God speaking. Oh, but the wicked, the unbelievers,
they'll see in that day also what's in the heart of God towards
them. And they'll see it in the very
humanity, in the very expressions of the Lord Jesus Christ. What
does God feel towards the wicked? What is His opinion? What's His
attitude towards the wicked? They'll see it that day. And
they'll see it in the very countenance of the Son of God. They'll see
it in His face. They'll hear it in the tone of
His voice. They'll see it in His eyes. They'll see it in His hand as
He directs them towards the lake of fire. They'll hear it in the
sternness of His voice. Depart from Me, ye workers of
iniquity. And that's from God. That's the
verdict of Almighty God. speaking through His Son. Oh, blessed Lord Jesus, false
and full of sin I am. Thou art full of truth and grace. And there is where I take my
place before such a God. Oh, are You full of grace. I
am full of sin. And I will get down at His feet
There's the only safe place for you. I'm telling you, you ain't
got God figured out. Don't think you have. He's too
high. You don't know what He's going to do. The only safe recourse
is to get down on His feet and seek to draw out from Him grace
and tender mercies and goodness. Oh, may He help us to do it.
for His sake. Let us pray.