Jesus wept
"Jesus Wept" is the shortest verse in the Christian Bible (King James Version of the Bible) and is found in the Gospel of John, Chapter 11:35.
Cultural significance
In western English-speaking society, the phrase "Jesus wept" is a common expletive, curse or minced oath spoken when something goes wrong.
Jesus's tears have figured among the Alleged relics of Jesus Christ.
Context
The phrase occurs on the death of Lazarus, a friend of Jesus. Lazarus's sisters came to Jesus and told him that he was sick and dying. Jesus went to visit him, but arrived too late. Christian tradition states that Jesus wept in front of Lazarus' tomb. He then ordered the people to remove the stone covering his tomb, prayed to God, and ordered Lazarus to come out. The resurrection of Lazarus came to the attention of the Jewish priests, and was one of the things that led to Jesus' eventual arrest and crucifixion.
Interpretation
Significance has been attributed to this phrase for a number of reasons, including the following:
- Weeping demonstrates that the Christ was indeed true man, with real bodily functions (such as tears, sweat, blood, eating and drinking - note, for comparison, the emphasis laid on Jesus eating during the post-resurrection appearances). His emotions and reactions were real; the Christ was not an illusion or spirit (see Docetism).
- The sorrow felt by Jesus presages the suffering of his own crucifixion.
- Jesus's weeping demonstrates that Lazarus had genuinely died. The raising of Lazarus was therefore not a fraud or a case of misdiagnosis.
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