What Would Bring Us To Tears?
Good Morning Friends,
During this time of the liturgical year we begin to think what made Jesus weep. Of course, there was the time at Lazarus funeral. Then Jesus wept as He entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. There is no record of the disciples having seen this behavior in Jesus earlier in his ministry. This is interesting for Jesus had experienced other events that might have brought a man to tears. Jesus might have wept when John the Baptist had his head cut off, or when people had rejected his own ministry and tried to kill him, but those events did not bring Jesus to tears. Jesus wept, I think, because as his earthly ministry was ending, his greatest adversary was still plaguing humanity. Friends, only Jesus could defeat this evil enemy. Jesus had a plan, but Death had plans too. And Jesus knew just how ugly it was going to get. So, in our own tears and healing it is not so hard to see what would bring Jesus to tears. But let us be open and honest. What Would Bring Us To Tears?
Scripture: After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.'” So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They said, “The Lord needs it.” Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.” As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
Luke 19:28-42 (NRSV)
Therefore I said: Look away from me, let me weep bitter tears; do not try to comfort me for the destruction of my beloved people.
Isaiah 22:4 (NRSV)
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)
Message: Today is Palm Sunday and it marks the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem as a King riding on a colt as was prophesied. But before Jesus entered the City, he makes an exciting request and since most of the disciples had learned to do as they were told, two of them went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the colt from its owner in town, placed their cloaks on it, and Jesus rode the animal into Jerusalem. However trivial this errand may have seemed, it was full of biblical and theological significance. It demonstrated that Christ had come to be the King, but it also tells us Jesus had a plan. But before the triumph came tears. And this is important. Jesus weeps before he enters the city and it was not at the sight of crowds cheering him on. Indeed, Jesus wept before he was whipped and flogged and beaten, even before He was dragged through the streets like a criminal, and before they put nails into His hands and feet, for that would have brought tears to my eyes, but not Jesus. Interestingly Jesus wept before all that and I think it was because he knew the nature of humans and needed to clear his eyes physically and emotionally for what was to come. For sure Jesus wept because he saw fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophetic words on the horizon, and because His heart was full of sadness at the thought of the destruction that would soon visit the Holy City. And indeed, the destruction of Jerusalem would occur about 40 years from the time of Jesus triumphal entry. The Roman Army would tear down the sacred Temple and kill Jerusalem’s inhabitants crushing the city into a pile of dust and rubble. Absolute devastation was in the future but this was part of the plan too. Jesus, I think, could see death coming contrasted against the celebration of Palm Sunday but also in Holy History a healing of the nations and a resurrection. So, Jesus wept at the price that would have to be paid and it was a complex biological, spiritual, psychosocial and emotional event. But it was also part of Holy History and evidenced by both palms and passion. Friends, I do not know what brings you to tears, maybe it is joy, maybe it is pain or excitement or grief. The reality is that, for now, tears are a part of life that we cannot avoid them, nor should we. Jesus wept and the reasons we weep can be complex too. Maybe we will have poorer eyesight for a time but know that our emotions and what we sense and intuit, if it is true will in time help us to be set free. The thing is that we need to have enough passion in our lives to care enough to be just a little emotional about those things that matter most. And that means we will have to shed a few tears.
Pray we realize that sin results in death. Pray we realize that the emotional and physical pain, and the tears that come as part of loving, are part of life. Pray we realize that the battle over death rested on Jesus’ shoulders, not our own and that this burden is enough to bring anyone to tears. Pray therefore we are not afraid to love…we are not afraid to cry. Pray that we weep for the right reasons. Pray we realize that we have the promise of a time when the tears end. Pray on this Palm and Passion Sunday that we realize that before sin can be conquered and before death can be defeated there will be many tears. Pray we let Christ share in our tears.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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