What is my favorite verse?

My brain is a bit tired this week. I have had numerous opportunities to teach and share my testimony recently, and truthfully, I was at a loss for what to write on this week. A dear friend suggested that I should just write my favorite verse and say that even I run out of words sometimes! So here it is, but it does need some explanation. (Apparently I always have words.)

“Jesus wept.” John 11:33

If you’ve heard me speak in person, you may be chuckling right now. Of course I love this verse. I cry during almost every talk I give. The Word of God always moves me. I am never at a loss for words or tears!

The word “wept” in this context is not the extreme cry of grief or lamentation that Jesus expresses later over Jerusalem because He knows they will soon hang Him on a cross in rejection of Himself. This is the simple act of shedding tears. I have often asked, why would Jesus cry knowing that in just moments He will raise Lazarus from the dead. I have come to conclude that this verse is the greatest expression of both Jesus’ divinity as well as His humanity. Yes, He would demonstrate His full authority over life and death. But equally true is that He came to us fully human. Fully compassionate. Fully sorrowful. Fully loving. He can fully relate to us through all our suffering and pain. When we weep, Jesus weeps. We live in a fallen world, as the events of last night remind us. I find comfort in the knowledge that our God weeps with us.