Jesus wept. Found in John 11:35, it is the shortest sentence
found in any of the sixty-six books of Scripture. (Linguistics and languages not being my area of expertise at all, I have read that in the original Greek, I Thessalonians 5:16 is the shortest verse, yet verses were designated later on obviously.) Jesus cried upon reaching the tomb where his
friend Lazarus was put after he physically died. This is not the only Biblical record of Jesus
crying. He cried when approaching
Jerusalem before a Passover Feast sparked by His foreknowledge that Jerusalem
would be destroyed, as it was in 70 A.D., as is shown in Luke 19:41.
To think that Jesus, God incarnate, cried, overwhelms me. God loves people so much He cried.
My mom told me much about Samoa when I was young, since she had lived there for a time when she was a teenager. She once told me of how the cultural norm of Samoa in the 1960’s was for the men to cry in public, such as at funerals or when people were leaving. That was such the opposite of the United States culture, where it was considered an expression of weakness if a man cried in public in the 1960’s, and still is today. Whatever the cultural norm for the Israelites about two thousand years ago, Jesus cried.
Physical and spiritual pain and suffering saturate this world. In response to the sins of all people, Jesus suffered, and Jesus died on the cross as the sacrifice as a substitute for people who deserved spiritual death for wrong doings done against God. The reason for such suffering by Jesus is that Jesus loves us. If you believe in Jesus, receiving Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you will be forgiven of your sins because of His substitutionary sacrifice.
A young friend of mine cried last week. I look back and realize his crying was appropriate. There is reason to cry in this world for our own sins and for the sins of others. We all probably do not cry enough.
However, the minister in the church where I worshiped with that same friend the next day quoted Revelation 21:4-5 concerning the promise of heaven that all believers in Jesus have, which states: “[God] will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true” (NIV).
May we cry now for good reasons while being confident in our hearts that Jesus is going to one day have all of His children in heaven where there will be crying no more.
Hunter Irvine
To think that Jesus, God incarnate, cried, overwhelms me. God loves people so much He cried.
My mom told me much about Samoa when I was young, since she had lived there for a time when she was a teenager. She once told me of how the cultural norm of Samoa in the 1960’s was for the men to cry in public, such as at funerals or when people were leaving. That was such the opposite of the United States culture, where it was considered an expression of weakness if a man cried in public in the 1960’s, and still is today. Whatever the cultural norm for the Israelites about two thousand years ago, Jesus cried.
Physical and spiritual pain and suffering saturate this world. In response to the sins of all people, Jesus suffered, and Jesus died on the cross as the sacrifice as a substitute for people who deserved spiritual death for wrong doings done against God. The reason for such suffering by Jesus is that Jesus loves us. If you believe in Jesus, receiving Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you will be forgiven of your sins because of His substitutionary sacrifice.
A young friend of mine cried last week. I look back and realize his crying was appropriate. There is reason to cry in this world for our own sins and for the sins of others. We all probably do not cry enough.
However, the minister in the church where I worshiped with that same friend the next day quoted Revelation 21:4-5 concerning the promise of heaven that all believers in Jesus have, which states: “[God] will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true” (NIV).
May we cry now for good reasons while being confident in our hearts that Jesus is going to one day have all of His children in heaven where there will be crying no more.
Hunter Irvine
