Series: N/A

Service: Praise and Preaching Service

Type: Lord's Supper Talk

Speaker: Dwayne Gandy

The Tears of Jesus

9-14-25

John 11 is one of the most emotional chapters in the Bible. It shows us a side of Jesus that is deeply human—one that reminds us He didn’t just take on flesh and blood, but also every emotion that comes with being human.

Over the last few months, we’ve been looking at the emotional moments of Jesus’ life—times when His humanity was on full display. He laughed. He smiled. He got angry. He grew frustrated. He was compassionate. He was rejected. And, as we’ll see today, He also wept.

That may sound simple, but it’s profound. The Son of God, the Creator of the universe, cried real, human tears.

And the Bible records three specific times when Jesus cried. Each of them shows us something different about His heart—something that helps us know He understands ours.

1. Jesus Wept at the Tomb of a Friend (John 11:32–35)

Lazarus, one of Jesus’ closest friends, had died. His sisters Mary and Martha had sent word for Jesus to come, but He delayed several days. When He finally arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.

When Mary saw Jesus, she fell at His feet and said through her tears, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” (John 11:32)

The Bible says, “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. ‘Where have you laid him?’ He asked. ‘Come and see, Lord,’ they replied. Jesus wept.” (vv. 33–35)

Two words—yet they hold the weight of eternity.

Jesus knew exactly what He was about to do. He knew He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead in just a few minutes. He knew that victory over death was certain. He knew the story would end in joy.

So why did He cry?

He cried because Mary was crying.

He entered into her sorrow. He stood in that moment with her, not above it, not looking down from a divine distance, but standing beside her in grief.

We’ve all been there. You tell yourself you won’t cry—but then you see someone you love crying, and your eyes fill too. You feel what they feel. That’s what Jesus did. He was present in the pain.

He didn’t lecture Mary about how everything would turn out fine. He didn’t rush past her grief with a theological explanation. He simply joined her in it.

That’s our Savior. The same One who conquered death also sat down and wept beside a grieving sister.

But Jesus’ tears weren’t just for Mary. The text says that when people saw Him crying, they said, “See how He loved him!” (v. 36) He also wept because He loved Lazarus.

Jesus felt the full ache of human loss. He was mourning not only His friend but the tragedy of death itself—the brokenness of a world groaning under the curse of sin.

I can’t help but believe His tears also carried the weight of what it would cost to defeat death. He knew that the only way to wipe away our tears forever was to go to the cross Himself. And though He knew that truth intellectually, this moment made it personal.

Sometimes we “know” something for years, but then comes a moment when that knowledge hits us with full force. Jesus knew He would die for the world—but standing before that tomb, surrounded by sorrow, He felt the cost more deeply than ever.

The victory He was about to show by calling Lazarus from the grave would only be temporary. Lazarus would die again. But the permanent victory—our eternal resurrection—would require Jesus’ own suffering and death. And that reality brought tears to His eyes.

2. Jesus Wept Over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41–44)

The second time Jesus cried wasn’t at a graveside but on a hillside.

Luke tells us that as Jesus approached Jerusalem for the last time—just days before His crucifixion—He stopped and looked over the city. The people were cheering. Palm branches waved. The crowd shouted, “Hosanna!” Yet Jesus’ response wasn’t a smile. It was tears.

“As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.’” (Luke 19:41–42)

Imagine that scene. Jesus looking across the city of David—the city of the prophets, the priests, and the kings—and weeping. Not because of its buildings, but because of its people.

He knew what they were about to do. In just a few days, the same city that sang His praises would demand His crucifixion. He wept because they were rejecting the very One who could give them peace.

He also wept for what was coming. Jesus saw the destruction that would fall on Jerusalem about forty years later when Rome would besiege the city, killing thousands and leveling the temple. He knew those children playing in the streets that day would be grown men and women when the judgment came. He knew the anguish that was coming.

But His tears weren’t limited to one generation. Jesus saw the long history of Jerusalem—its prophets slain, its kings corrupted, its people straying from God. He saw all of it at once. The city that should have recognized the time of God’s visitation had become blind to it.

That’s why He said, “They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” (v. 44)

Jesus’ tears here are not just tears of sadness; they’re tears of heartbreak over human rebellion.

He loved these people. He loved the ones who would shout “Crucify Him.” He loved the ones who would spit and mock. And He wept because sin had made them blind to the peace He offered.

Even today, He weeps for those who still reject Him—for cities, nations, and hearts that turn away from the only One who can bring true peace.

3. Jesus Wept in the Garden (Hebrews 5:7)

The third time Scripture tells us that Jesus cried comes from Hebrews 5:7, which looks back on His prayers in Gethsemane:

“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, He offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission.”

The Gospels tell us that in the garden, His sweat was like drops of blood. Hebrews fills in the rest: there were tears.

These were tears of surrender.

“Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be done.” (Matthew 26:39)

In that moment, the full weight of the cross settled on Him. The physical suffering was only part of it—the deeper pain was spiritual. He was about to bear the sin of the world.

And so He cried out—not in rebellion, but in submission. These were not tears of weakness. They were tears of costly obedience.

Every one of us has prayed a version of that same prayer—“Not my will, but Yours be done.” And often it’s accompanied by tears. Jesus knows that feeling. He’s been there.

That’s why we can come to Him with our own tears. He understands them. He has felt them. He has sanctified them.

The Savior Who Cries With Us

If Jesus were walking this earth today, He would still be weeping with us.

He would have cried when Sister Irene passed away—not only because He loved her, but because He loves those who loved her. He would have cried for her daughters. He would cry for the pain that loss brings.

He would have cried on that train in North Carolina where tragedy struck. He would have cried on that college campus in Utah. Because He still feels what we feel.

When we grieve, He grieves. When we cry, He understands.

That’s the beauty of the incarnation: God didn’t just come to save us; He came to feel with us.

He knows what it’s like to have human flesh. He knows what it’s like to have human desires and human emotions. And He poured out those emotions for people like us—people who laugh, ache, hope, and mourn.

The Tears That End All Tears

When we come to the Lord’s table, we remember more than just the physical suffering of Jesus. We remember the emotional cost as well—the sorrow, the compassion, the heartbreak that led Him to give His life for us.

He wept so that one day we wouldn’t have to.

The cross was not only about nails and thorns; it was about the burden of grief, the pain of rejection, and the cost of love. Jesus endured all of it so that one day He could wipe away every tear from our eyes.

As Revelation 21:4 says, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

When that day comes, there will be no more funerals, no more sorrow, no more broken hearts—because our Savior who once wept will have turned every tear into joy.

Until that day, every time we gather around the table, we remember Him—the Savior who cried for us, the Savior who still walks with us, and the Savior who will one day dry our eyes forever.