Doesn’t Life Bring a Tear to Your Eyes?
Good Morning Friends,
We should never feel comfortable with sin…with war and the evil systems of this world. Still we are to fight against it with an attitude of compassion and belief in a life of joy, for to submit to the evil separates us from God. The harsh reality is that the wages of sin is death and adds to the pain on the cross. It all must bring Jesus to tears. But Jesus is a man of both great sorrows and great joy. And so to for us in our faith groups and families we are called to believe and act and shed a few tears, but also to rejoice in the hope of what Jesus can do in the face of death. We are to repent in the grace of a God who weeps. Whether it is for joy or sadness, Doesn’t Life Bring a Tear to Your Eyes?
Scripture: he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.’
Revelation 21:4 (NRSV)
When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.’ When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, ‘The Teacher is here and is calling for you.’ And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt 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 Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’ But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?’ Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead for four days.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upwards and said, ‘Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.’ When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’
John 11:17-44 (NRSV)
Message: The body has the unique ability that, when functioning in unity, can both touch and cry in compassion for another. With all that is going on in the world it is enough to make one cry. Today we face the subject of war and we ask the question, why we are not weeping more. The Lord of lords and the King of kings cried. Weeping is natural…it is the normal response, a typical human emotion exhibited when one is confronted with death. Yet Jesus who holds the power of life in His hands still wept… Did Jesus weep simply because it is the human thing to do? Perhaps Jesus wept for the family. That makes sense. But perhaps there is more. Perhaps Jesus cried because of the pain of losing a friend…perhaps Jesus wept because death would soon be his challenge as a man and His challenge as the Messiah. Perhaps he realized that we would have to face the world we face today. Perhaps Jesus wept because He knew that those who believed in Him would not be disappointed, but that some would not believe. Some…too many would choose death over life. Hate over love. Friends, someday there will be no tears in heaven, but that day is not today. Today angels weep. The saints cry. The tears roll down because we still sin…. we still suffer with our burdens. We suffer because someday we must face our lost opportunities. Someday we must shed tears for those we love that are lost. Friends, choose the tears of burden over the tears of regret.
Pray we cry out to the Lord when our heart is overwhelmed. Pray that we cry tears of joy for the redeemed and tears of grief for the lost. Pray we discover the hope that grows when we are distressed and cry out to the Lord in our grief and agony…in our disappointment and pain. Pray that we find a joyous friend in Jesus. Pray the Holy Spirit strengthen our weakened faith. Pray we impart a fresh hope in people’s lives. Pray we sympathize with and aid those in need. Pray we become unbound from our own grave clothes. Pray that God shares our tears. Pray we learn the way of peace. Pray we imagine the conversion of all people’s hearts.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 