When I was a kid among the pointless bits of Bible trivia I learned was that the shortest verse in the Bible was John 11:35, “Jesus wept.” I wasn’t all that thrilled when the New Revised Standard Version was introduced which translated it as, “Jesus began to weep.” I know it’s technically a more accurate translation but now I’m left to wonder what is the shortest verse in the Bible? Of course it’s all quite irrelevant. That’s the shortest verse in English. I don’t know about the original Greek and Hebrew. And ultimately who cares what is the shortest verse of the Bible!
The thing is it opens the can of worms that is the other translational issues with this passage. There have never been, and there are now, no English translations of the Bible that get this scene of Jesus by the tomb of Lazarus right. In fact I’m told that the only language translations that ever have gotten it right are the German translations. And that is because Martin Luther got it right when he translated the New Testament from Greek to German in 1522.
At issue here is what is Jesus attitude? From 11:35, “Jesus wept,” we’d come away with the idea that Jesus is sad about the whole thing. And so when we read in verse 33 Jesus was, “greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved,” we automatically assume this refers to sadness. The same thing happens in verse 38 when we read, “Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb.” We assume this is all sadness.
But it is not. It is anger. A closer word-for-word translation of verses 33 to 38 into English would go something like this. “Then when Jesus saw her wailing and the assembly of the Jews with her wailing, he snorted with rage; his spirit was stirred up. And he said, “Where have you put him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. The Jews said, “See how he continued to love him.” Some said, “Wasn’t he able this one who opened the bad eyes of the blind man to do something in this death? Then Jesus, again indignation rising within him, came to the tomb.”
I think it is important to point out Jesus anger in this scene because it really is a mix of anger and sadness – not just a sappy picture of a sentimental Jesus. We learn from both Jesus anger and his sadness. We learn from his sadness that God does know and acknowledge the pain that death causes in human life. Jesus knows what’s coming. He knows God will raise Lazarus from the dead. But Jesus is not cold and callous, ignoring the emotions of death.
Yet Jesus is still angry also. Why? What has angered him? Biblical scholars since the third century have struggled to answer that. There have been many suggestions. The one that best fits is that Jesus is angry at the lack of faith of this crowd of Jews and possibly the lack of faith in Martha’s sister Mary.
Notice that Martha went out to meet Jesus before he got to the village. Martha tells Jesus that she believes in him and that through him will come the resurrection. Contrast her with Mary who stays at home crying. When Mary does finally come to Jesus she kneels down and says, “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died.”
So you see the difference in these women’s faith? Martha recognizes Jesus’ role as the Messiah. She trusts him to do what is God’s plan. Mary on the other hand wants Jesus for herself. She’s upset that Jesus hasn’t come and saved her brother for her. Mary’s motives are ultimately selfish.
It is in response to this from Mary that Jesus becomes angry. And the Jews around don’t help much. Don’t get the idea that they are meekly and sorrowfully saying, “Couldn’t this man who opened the eyes of the blind man have saved this man from death?” They are really saying, “Some friend this Jesus is. He didn’t even high-tail it here to help out his friends. Why didn’t he do something?” Their tone is derogatory. And after that statement the Bible repeats that Jesus was indignant and angry.
Perhaps this isn’t a parallel at all, but I know a lot of people have trouble with wireless networks in their homes. I know of more than one person who has trouble getting their printer to print from more than just one computer. Imagine you are a computer expert and you’ve helped out a friend to get their network working perfectly. Then you go away on a business trip and you find out they’ve having a few minor problems. You send word back that you’ll be there in a couple days, just hold tight. When you arrive back your friends say, “Since you were delayed we had the neighbor, who’s always messing things up, come in and see what he could do. He seemed confident that he knew what he was doing but now nothing works at all.” You’d be angry. And you’d feel betrayed. Yes, you’d probably fix it but you’d scold them for having some hack come in and mess around with all your good work. I think that is some of Jesus’ anger with Mary and the Jews. They’re messing around with his good work.
What do we learn from all of this? Well, certainly don’t do as Mary and the Jews do! Don’t cry out to God that you’re not getting the personal service you want to. That’s not what it’s all about. Instead, look to verses 25 and 25 where Jesus is speaking with Martha. I’ve heard these verses described as the most far reaching promise anywhere in the Gospel of what relationship with Jesus offers to those who embrace it. Those verses are again where Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will life, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Commentator Gail O’Day notes this about these verses, “These are not idle words of hope, because they name the greatest threat to full relationship with God: death. They offer a vision of life to the believer in which his or her days do not need to be reckoned by the inevitable power of death, but instead by the irrevocable promise of life with God. [The believer is invited into] a vision of life in which one remains in the full presence of God during life and after death. The physical reality of death is denied power over one’s life with God, as is the metaphysical reality of death.” New Interpreters Bible Pg. 694
Said differently, do you believe in the power of the resurrection or not? Do you live life today, and make decisions today, with the resurrection in mind? I think many people worry and awful lot about a whole bunch of irrelevant stuff; because an awful lot of stuff is irrelevant when it comes to the resurrection.
Now I’m not suggesting you say to the IRS, “My 1040 isn’t really important in light of the resurrection so I’m not going to bother with it.” Don’t attempt that! But don’t fret over financial worries, or how your stock portfolio is doing, or how much Kodak stock has fallen in the last five years.
Most of what is on the news on any given day is irrelevant and unimportant. Measure it all in light of the reality of the resurrection and see how much of it really matters. Some does. Most doesn’t.
Like Martha live and trust in the resurrection. It is God’s promise to you. Amen
