Jesus Began To Weep
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, it 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.
Is
there anything wrong with crying? Or do we have biblical evidence to suggest
that it is okay to cry?
Jesus
gives us the answer. Lazarus, a close friend of His, had died.
Sadness,
tears, and mourning are familiar territory for everyone on this earth – even
Jesus. His tears tell us that it is okay to weep. And they remind us that the
reason tears of sorrow will not be something for eternity is that there is no
death, no sorrow, and no crying in eternity. There is no pain.
When God wipes out the effects of sin,
He will wipe out the need for tears
– one more reason to look
forward to eternity.
Heaven is a place with no pain,
no night,
no
death,
and
no tears.
Our Daily Bread –