This devotion is a weekly ministry of the Pee Dee Baptist Association, comprised of 32 Southern Baptist churches in Dillon and Marlboro Counties.  For more information call 774-8062.
Featured this week is writing of the late Rev. Kenneth Cox. Kenneth was the pastor of Beulah Baptist Church, Hamer, at the time of his death in 2010. His mother has given permission to use Kenneth’s articles. This one is from October 1994.

Practically every person who has ever gone to Sunday School and has been asked to quote a Bible verse on the spot can quote John 11:35:  “Jesus wept.” These two words provide more than just a snappy verse to use in Sunday School; these two words reveal some insights into the personality of Jesus Christ.
First, Jesus’ weeping reinforced His preaching. Jesus often spoke of love in His teachings to His disciples and others. If anything Jesus had ever taught would sink into the minds of His listeners, His teachings on love must have certainly penetrated the surface. Jesus’ tears were not fake; they were real tears over the death of His friend Lazarus. The Jews who were watching Christ could not help but be convinced of the Savior’s true feelings as they commented: “Behold, how they loved him!” (John 11:36). Jesus’ tears demonstrated that true love does not always come just from the lips; it has to come from the heart.
Secondly, Jesus’ weeping shows the human side of His divine nature. Jesus was the perfect combination of God and man; some have called Him the “God-man.” Jesus FELT the confusing sadness, the bereaved bitterness that existed around the fact of Lazarus’ death. Jesus cried because He was HUMAN. He could see the questions that were no doubt going through Mary and Martha’s mind: “Why did Jesus wait so late before He came? Why doesn’t He DO something? Does He REALLY care? Did He really love Lazarus?”
Then, He knew no doubt what the onlookers were thinking: “Jesus cannot feel sorrow. He said so much about love, but He does not seem to be disturbed about Lazarus’ death.’ Jesus wept because He honestly cared for His dead friend and his sisters. In fact, one could say that Jesus knows how it feels when we have to go to a funeral conducted for our loved ones. He has not changed; He knows what we feel when we feel it – and He cares.
Thirdly, Jesus’ weeping – His sadness – created action in Him, not a spirit of defeat. After the stone from Lazarus’ grave had been removed, Jesus prayed to God in John 11:42-43: “Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me always:  but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me.”
After this prayer, Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.”  (Some bible scholars have said that if Jesus had left out Lazarus’  name and had just said, “Come forth,” all who were dead would have come out of their tombs.) Indeed Lazarus came out of the tomb –  alive as he had ever been.
There may be times of weeping in our lives, but we are promised that joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5). When we are sad and are contemplating how defeated we feel, we need to remember that Jesus wept – and in His weeping, He understands what we are going through. He can turn our tears into triumph.