John includes a curious story. Like most stories about Jesus, it’s familiar. In fact, it is so familiar that we often just read through it without letting the emotions of the story sink in.
Jesus had left Jerusalem and the region of Judea where the authorities were trying to kill him and was about half-way north toward Galilee. He received a message from two of his best friends that their brother was very sick. They wanted him to come down to Bethany and heal him.
Jesus doesn’t go right away. He says it’s only a trick and that this will show the greater power of God. Then he hears that Lazarus has died. That doesn’t even seem to faze him.
But when he arrives and sees the anguish of his friends Martha and Mary and of their friends, he is deeply touched. It’s almost as though he never considered how they would feel waiting on him. When he felt their pain, he cried.
How often do we know what we’re doing, yet fail to communicate with others? How often do they misunderstand us and jump to the wrong conclusion? I bet many of the problems of people in the world, even huge political problems, can trace their roots to a cause such as this.
Jesus felt their pain and cried with them. Whatever your picture of Jesus, add to it that he was an emotional human being. Shocked? Don’t be. He at times exhibited anger, outrage, impatience, maybe even fear (or at least trepidation).
The key is that he always mastered his emotions. He didn’t dwell on them. After he shared a moment of grief with his friends, then he took command of both himself and the situation and told Lazarus to walk out of the tomb. That shocked everyone. They imagined all manner of morbid stuff. But just as Jesus said before he left for Bethany, Lazarus was just “asleep” and showed no signs of having been dead and buried. When Jesus makes you well, you’re well all the way.
Faith Venture 
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