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  EXPOSITORY THOUGHTS ON JOHN - JOHN 11:30-37
  by J.C. Ryle
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Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still in the place
where Martha had come out to meet him. Then the Jewish people from
Jerusalem who were with Mary in the house consoling her saw her get up
quickly and go out. They followed her, because they thought she was
going to the tomb to weep there.

Now when Mary came to the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at
his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here my brother would
not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jewish people who
had come with her weeping, he was intensely moved in spirit and greatly
distressed. He asked, "Where have you laid him?" They replied, "Lord,
come and see." Jesus wept. Thus the Jewish people who had come to mourn
said, "Look how much he loved him!" But some of them said, "This is the
man who caused the blind man to see! Couldn’t he have done something
to keep Lazarus from dying?"

Not many passages in the New Testament are more wonderful than the
simple narrative contained in these eight verses. It brings out, in a
most beautiful light, the sympathizing character of our Lord Jesus
Christ. It shows us Him who is "able to save to the uttermost all who
come to God by Him," as able to feel as He is to save. It shows us Him
who is One with the Father, and the Maker of all things, entering into
human sorrows, and shedding human tears.

We learn, for one thing, in these verses, how great a blessing God
sometimes bestows on actions of kindness and sympathy.

It seems that the house of Martha and Mary at Bethany was filled with
mourners when Jesus arrived. Many of these mourners, no doubt, knew
nothing of the inner life of these holy women. Their faith, their hope,
their love to Christ, their discipleship, were things of which they were
wholly ignorant. But they felt for them in their heavy bereavement, and
kindly came to offer what comfort they could. By so doing they reaped a
rich and unexpected reward. They beheld the greatest miracle that Jesus
ever wrought. They were eye-witnesses when Lazarus came forth from the
tomb. To many of them, we may well believe, that day was a spiritual
birth. The raising of Lazarus led to a resurrection in their souls. How
small sometimes are the hinges on which eternal life appears to depend!
If these people had not sympathized they might never have been saved.

We need not doubt that these things were written for our learning. To
show sympathy and kindness to the sorrowful is good for our own souls,
whether we know it or not. To visit the fatherless and widows in their
affliction, to weep with those who weep, to try to bear one another\

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Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/jc-ryle/expository-thoughts-on-john-john-1130-37/
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