When Jesus Weeps: Presence, Comfort, and Resurrection

Mar 16, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: God is with us in our deepest sorrows.

Even in our darkest moments of grief and confusion, we are not alone. The heart of God is not distant or detached from our pain. He enters into the depths of our suffering with a profound and personal empathy. He meets us in our tears, sharing in our heartbreak and offering His compassionate presence before any resolution comes. This is the astonishing love of a God who draws near. [40:11]

“Jesus wept.” (John 11:35, ESV)

Reflection: When you recall a time of deep personal sorrow, how might it change your perspective to know that Jesus was not aloof from your pain but was weeping with you in that moment?

Day 2: Christ’s delay is for a greater glory.

God’s timing often confounds our human understanding and expectations. What we perceive as a painful delay or a denied request may be part of a divine plan we cannot yet see. God’s purposes are always oriented toward revealing His glory and bringing about a greater good than we could imagine or request. He works beyond our immediate circumstances to accomplish something more profound and lasting for our benefit and for His name’s sake. [38:17]

“But when Jesus heard it he said, ‘This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’” (John 11:4, ESV)

Reflection: Can you identify a past prayer that seemed to go unanswered, only to later see how God’s timing worked for a deeper purpose? What does that experience teach you about trusting His timing in a current situation of waiting?

Day 3: Jesus is the source of resurrection and life.

Our hope is not merely in a future event, but in a present person. Eternal life and resurrection power are not abstract concepts but are found in a relationship with Christ Himself. He is the very embodiment of the life that conquers death, offering His victory to all who believe in Him. Turning to Him in faith opens us to receive the grace and power that God desires to give. [44:12]

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.’” (John 11:25, ESV)

Reflection: In what area of your life do you most need to experience the resurrecting, life-giving power of Jesus right now, and what would it look like to actively turn that area over to Him in faith?

Day 4: We are called to weep with those who weep.

Following Christ’s example means entering into the suffering of others with compassion and presence. Often, the most powerful ministry we can offer is not a solution, but our solidarity. Simply being with someone in their pain, sharing in their grief, and offering a listening heart can be a profound conduit of God’s love. We are called to embody the comforting presence of Christ to one another. [42:23]

“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” (Romans 12:15, ESV)

Reflection: Who in your life is currently walking through a season of grief or difficulty, and what is one practical way you can come alongside them to "weep with those who weep" this week?

Day 5: God’s word gives voice to our lament.

In times when we are overcome with sorrow and cannot find our own words, Scripture provides a language for our pain. The Psalms meet us in our depths, giving honest expression to our anguish while simultaneously turning our hearts toward God. They guide us in crying out to the Lord from a place of raw honesty, affirming that He hears the voice of our pleas for mercy. [49:05]

“Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!” (Psalm 130:1-2, ESV)

Reflection: When you are next in a place of confusion or sorrow, which Psalm could you turn to as a prayer, and how might using God’s own words to express your hurt help you connect with Him?

Sermon Summary

An equipping ministry offers teaching seminars on sacramental theology, discernment, generosity, outreach, and emotionally healthy spirituality, and invites participation at the diocesan gathering in April. Corporate worship opens with a collect that asks God to order unruly wills and affections, followed by a long season of intercession that names the global needs of peace, care for the persecuted and displaced, national leaders, and a long list of individuals and families in distress. A brief blessing and prayer for children transitions into a personal anecdote about a frightening childhood fever that frames the emotional reality of waiting and helplessness when illness strikes.

The narrative of Lazarus becomes central: Mary and Martha call for Jesus while their brother dies, and Jesus delays two days before coming. That delay functions not as absence alone but as the setting for a more decisive display of God’s power—raising a man who had lain in the tomb so people might see the victory over death. Before the spectacle, the account emphasizes a quieter, deeper moment: Jesus sees grief, feels it, and weeps. That weeping reveals God’s willingness to enter human sorrow, to join the afflicted in their darkness, and to model a compassionate presence.

Jesus then declares himself “the resurrection and the life,” linking future hope to present encounter. Faith opens the way to receive the life Jesus offers; belief becomes the posture that lets God’s power and grace meet human need. The psalms, especially Psalm 13 and Psalm 130, appear as practical prayer tools for those in the depths—words that give voice to lament and lead toward trust. The text urges the community to embody Christ’s sympathy: to go and weep with those who weep, to be present even when words fail, and to let such presence create openings for prayer, truth, and healing.

The liturgy moves into Eucharistic prayer and communion with clear instructions about reception, followed by a sending prayer that commissions the gathered to serve as witnesses of Christ’s love. Prayer teams remain available for those who need personal prayer, reinforcing the call to both receive and extend the compassion and power that flow from the risen life.

Key Takeaways

1. God weeps with broken hearts Jesus enters grief not as an abstract rescuer but as one who shares sorrow bodily and emotionally. That weeping shows God’s solidarity with pain and validates human mourning as a place where divine presence dwells. Experiencing God’s tears reframes suffering: God’s nearness does not erase pain immediately but honors it and prepares space for restoration. [39:03]
2. Delay can display God's glory Apparent absence or delay in answering prayer sometimes prepares a revelation bigger than immediate relief. Jesus’ two-day delay made possible a more decisive victory over death that invited wider belief and deeper witness. Trials that feel like abandonment can bear the seeds of a greater disclosure of God’s purpose when met with faith. [34:16]
3. Christ is present, now and future The declaration “I am the resurrection and the life” collapses the distance between future hope and present encounter. Resurrection life arrives not only at the end of ages but where Christ stands with the living and the dying; faith opens access to that life here and now. Communion becomes a sacramental moment where timeless victory meets present need, inviting renewed trust. [44:12]
4. Weep with those who weep Compassionate presence forms the church’s primary ministry in suffering: to sit, listen, and join tears without rushing to fix. Simple accompaniment mirrors Christ’s example and often creates the relational soil for truth, prayer, and eventual healing. Being present embodies the gospel more powerfully than many words. [50:08]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[03:39] - Equipping the Saints Announcement
[11:55] - Collect: Ordering the Heart
[12:53] - Intercessions and Prayer List
[16:45] - Blessing of the Children
[30:35] - Childhood Illness: A Framing Story
[39:03] - Jesus Weeps with the Grieving
[44:12] - I Am the Resurrection and the Life
[49:05] - Psalms for the Depths (Psalm 13 & 130)
[50:08] - Go and Weep with Those Who Weep
[1:05:48] - Eucharistic Prayer
[1:10:52] - Communion Instructions
[1:22:03] - Sending and Blessing

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading
John 11:1-44 (ESV)

Observation questions

What was Jesus' response when he first heard that his friend Lazarus was ill?
What did both Martha and Mary say to Jesus when he finally arrived?
What is the shortest verse in the Bible, found in this passage, and what does it say Jesus did?
What did Jesus declare to Martha about himself before he raised Lazarus from the dead?

Interpretation questions

Why might Jesus have chosen to wait two days before going to Lazarus, even though he loved him and his sisters?
Jesus knew he was about to raise Lazarus from the dead. What does his act of weeping before the miracle reveal about God's character and his approach to human suffering?
How does Jesus' statement "I am the resurrection and the life" connect a future hope to a present reality for a believer?
The sermon connected this story to Psalms 13 and 130, which start with cries from the depths [49:05]. Why are these raw, honest prayers included in Scripture, and what role do they play for someone who is hurting?

Application questions

God weeps with broken hearts [39:03]. When have you experienced a situation where it felt like God was delayed or absent? How does knowing that Jesus weeps with us in our pain change the way you look back on that time?
Delay can display God's glory [34:16]. Can you identify a time in your life where a prayer was not answered in your timing, but God later revealed a greater purpose through the waiting? What was that process like for you?
Christ is present, now and future [44:12]. The resurrection is both a future event and a present power. In what practical areas of your life do you need to rely on Christ's resurrection life right now, rather than waiting for heaven?
Weep with those who weep [50:08]. Who in your life is currently in a "depth" and could simply use your presence? What is one practical step you can take this week to sit with them in their sorrow, without feeling the pressure to have all the answers?
The Psalms give us words for our pain [49:05]. When you don't know how to pray in a difficult moment, what would it look like to open to Psalm 13 or 130 and pray those words as your own?
Faith opens us up to receive God's grace and power [48:04]. In what current struggle are you being invited to simply believe, to take that step of faith that allows God's power to meet your need?

Sermon Clips

50s

#CompassionOfChrist

“But what does he do first? First, he comes to his people whom he loves, who are hurting, and first he weeps with them, joins them in the dark. I think that is so so important. You know, are a lot of philosophies and religions out there that believe in God or a God or higher power or something like that, but only Jesus does this. Only Jesus comes to his people in the midst of their brokenness and weeps with us. Only Jesus. And when that happens, in that weeping, we might call it weakness, the astonishing love and glory of God is revealed to us right there when Jesus wept.”

44s

#GodsTiming

“So Mary and Martha, they're urgent and and I mean Lazarus is on death's door and they send for Jesus. They call for Jesus and Jesus waits for two days. Now how would you feel if you were in the shoes of Martha and Mary knowing that Jesus could have come, he could have come sooner, he could have prevented Lazarus from dying, but he waited. Even from a distance, he could have commanded the illness to leave Lazarus. That's exactly what Jesus did for a Roman centurion's servant. But for his own beloved faithful friend Lazarus on the point of death, Jesus waited.”

41s

#WeepWithThoseWhoWeep

“If you have a friend or an acquaintance or a loved one who's in that place, in the depths, in the darkness, in a place of heartbreak and confusion and agony, I think it's really important to learn from Jesus here. Go and weep with those who weep Just as Romans 12 tells us to do. That's why God puts us in relationships, in families, in churches, so that we can be there for each other. Sometimes not even to say anything, but just to be there. Sometimes like Jesus in this passage, to talk with people, to encourage people with truth, to pray for people and with people.”

27s

#FaithReceivesHealing

“What we see with Martha and with Mary and Lazarus, their family, what we see with so many people in the gospels is that faith is what opens us up to receive the grace and the power and the healing of God. Faith, Jesus says this to one person after another, your faith has made you well. Right? You see this all over the place. Faith opens us to receive the gift, to receive the grace, to receive the power that God is offering.”

30s

#SourceOfResurrection

“If Jesus is the resurrection, if he is the life, part of what that means is if you want life, the life that really is life, if you wanna experience resurrected life that transcends this life, you've gotta go to Jesus. He's the source, he's it. You're not gonna find that anywhere or from anyone besides Jesus. It's to him you must turn and glory be, he's already seeking you.”

28s

#ComeToJesus

“It's been said that our suffering is always personal. And so God's answer to our suffering is not simply an idea, but a person. Jesus, who comes calling us. Come to me. We say this every week. Come to me. You're heavy laden, you're hurting, you're weary, you're you're beat down. Come to me and I'll give you rest. He comes to us in person and he calls us.”

25s

#PrayThePsalms

“go to Psalm 13, go to Psalm one thirty and let those words lead you into prayer. Those words that Mary and Martha probably said over the cold corpse of Lazarus. Let those words start turning you to the God who loves you and wants to share his grace and healing with you. That's why they're there. That's why these these prayers are in the book of Psalms.”

34s

#LightInTheNight

“He gives us an example of how to love other people with the kind of love that comes out of the heart of God. He weeps with them, but he doesn't stop there. His presence brings to them the love of God. His presence also brings to them the power of God. When we're like night watchmen waiting, yearning for the breaking of a new dawn, I love that image in Psalm one thirty. He comes and he waits with us in the dark, but he also brings the light. That's what Jesus does.”

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