Luke Taylor Student's Choosing 1: Analyzing Jesus Wept

I decided to analyze the shortest sentence in the entire Bible. It is found in John 11:35 and simply states, “Jesus wept.” A little background to this particular text is that Jesus’ good friend, Lazarus, died. Jesus then reacts to Lazarus’ death by breaking down and crying out because of the loss of his friend. While I realize it will be very challenging to write three pages on just two words alone, I believe that there is rich meaning in this small, yet powerful sentence. While there are many different perspectives of communication at which to look, I have chosen to analyze this piece of text through a rhetorical lens while also connecting references to other scholars who changed the way mass communication is seen today.

            While I do not think it was Jesus’ intent to come off as very persuasive in the moment, it is evident that the power of this text has shown the character of Jesus and persuaded people to see it as his intimate love for people. In addition, Craig (1999) states that “all communication can be theorized as practical art and studied in much the same ways as rhetoric” (Communication Theory as a Field, pp136), which is why even the nonverbal actions of “Jesus [weeping]” can be analyzed rhetorically. What is interesting in this text is that Jesus initially already has plans to heal Lazarus and bring him back to life. Based on that preconceived knowledge, one would think that if Jesus knew ahead of time that he already planned to bring Lazarus back to life and knew Lazarus would not be dead for too much longer, surely Jesus would not be emotional in this moment. However, Jesus wept over the loss of his friend. Based on that mere fact, it becomes very clear that Jesus longs for the heart of his people and through his reaction, he expresses an authentic emotion that speaks to those studying him. Craig (1999) also discusses how rhetoric “challenges other commonplace beliefs and reveals some of the deepest paradoxes of communication” (Communication as a Field, pp136). Jesus’ unexpected reaction challenges people to look deeper at the character of Jesus who can potentially change their view of communication as they are challenged with a very unique situation at hand. The way Jesus does not fear the reaction and thoughts of others around him during his weeping reminds me of Walt Whitman and how he was so willing to live transparently through Leaves of Grass, regardless of how others would perceive him. Simonson describes Whitman as an “orator” (Reconfiguring Mass Communication, pp74) while also saying that Whitman was able to “[offer] us ways to see” (Reconfiguring Mass Communication, pp74). What Simonson means when he mentions that Whitman helped others “see” is that Whitman showed a new perspective of self-expression, one that is authentic and unconcerned with the judgment of others. Similarly to Whitman, I think Jesus also opened the eyes of others by the way they saw his reaction of deep love for a dead man that he already planned to revive.  Through both Whitman and Jesus’ actions people were indirectly persuaded and inspired to live their lives without fear of judgment.