When most people think of the saddest verse in the Bible, they all tend to think of John 11:35, which is the verse that states "Jesus wept." It's the shortest verse of the Bible, and it's also incredibly powerful. It doesn't say that he cried, or that tears streamed down his face; it says that he weeps. Weeping is a level of crying that holds so much pain and anguish that it's easy to understand why people view this as the saddest verse. God in the flesh is brought to total anguish. That's sad.

But I don't think it's the saddest verse. It humanizes Jesus quite a lot, and I do agree that it's powerful, but I think there's a sadder verse, and it's right in Genesis. The advisor of our Christian Fellowship club on campus pointed out the verse to us once, and I remember how it hit me right in the gut.

Genesis 3 captures the fall of man. Almost everyone is familiar with it to some degree - the serpent tricks Eve into eating from the tree of knowledge, and she gives some of the fruit to Adam, and suddenly they're filled with the knowledge that they're naked. So they try to cover themselves, ashamed of their nakedness. Then they hear God coming, and like a child that has broken something precious, they hide.

Then this verse happens, Genesis 3:9: "But the Lord God called to the man, 'Where are you?'"

To me, it's the saddest verse, and I'll explain why. Because God already knows the answer to the question he's asking. He's not calling out to Adam and Eve because he can't seem to locate them; he's calling out with a thread of sadness in his voice, because he already knows they've made a huge mistake.

It's not "Where are you?" it's "Where are you?" That emphasis is important. It's God walking through the garden, the perfect place, and saying "Where have you gone? Why are you trying to hide? Oh don't you know, I see you anyway."

Don't you think it broke God's heart? It doesn't say that he weeps, but I always imagine he does. He made this perfect place for his perfect children to inhabit, and now he has to punish them. And by punishing them he punishing all of his children, all of humanity to come. A father never wants to chastise his kids, but sometimes he has to. And sometimes, at night when the kids are asleep and he's alone in bed, I think he cries over it. I think he weeps.

I can't imagine the pain God felt when they hid from him. Not only did they sin against him, not only did they strive to be greater than him, now in the face of him they hide? They don't run to him apologizing, or crying, or full of regret. Instead they come out of the woods sad and scared and ashamed, and only after he calls to them.

"Where are you? Why are you hiding from me? Don't you know I love you still?"

It always breaks my heart now, reading that story. We think of Eve being tricked, and Adam being duped and blaming Eve, and we tend to think of the shame of it all, but I don't think we ever consider how God felt in that moment. He has all the knowledge of the universe, but when he gave his children free will, he left himself open for disappointment and sorrow.

Years and years later, he'd send his son to this world. And his son would lose a close friend, Lazarus. And Jesus would look at Lazarus and weep. But I still picture God wandering through the garden, knowing when Adam and Eve emerge that he'll have to send them into the painful world beyond Eden, knowing that with knowledge they cannot also have eternal life - at least, not in this world.

Jesus weeping is sad. But God having to cast out those he created in his exact image? It's just heartbreaking to think of.