Tears

Aug 10, 2021

"Jesus wept."

- John 11:35

"Tears are words the heart cannot express."

- Proverb

John 11:35 may be the shortest verse in the Bible, but it speaks volumes to us today. Have you ever stopped to wonder what could possibly bring tears to the eyes of God? Imagine the disciples seeing tears run down the face of Jesus? They must've wondered… are they tears of weakness?... of fear?... of sadness?... of frustration? One thing is certain -- every single tear Jesus cried is real, significant, meaningful. So… want to know what it was that made God cry? It was a friend… whose heart was breaking! It was you...when your heart was breaking!

Lazarus, a very good friend of Jesus, had died. Jesus could have arrived earlier but He intentionally delayed His arrival in order to demonstrate His divine power.

When Mary saw Jesus, she fell at His feet and said, “Lord, if only You had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw Mary's tears, and the Jews who came with her also crying, He was upset and deeply troubled. He asked, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Come and see.” Then Jesus wept."

- John 11:33-35

Scholars have questioned why Jesus cried. Some say He was moved to tears because there were some people present in the crowd who were grieving without hope -- that is, they did not believe they would ever see Lazarus again… that he was dead and would forever be dead to them. Others believe Jesus cried when He thought about retrieving Lazarus back from heaven when He raised his dead body to life again on earth. But personally… I do not believe it was calling His dead friend back from the glory of Heaven or even the lack of faith of those present that pained Jesus most… I believe that Jesus cried simply because He saw the hurt of her brother's death written on Mary's face in tears.

Someone said that tears are "unfinished hurt." Tears are the evidence that something valuable has been broken, or stolen, or damaged that we cannot fix.

The situation is wrong… absurd… unjust… impossible… and we cannot correct or change it. "She should not have died." "He should not have left." "That should never have happened." "How could this tragedy have occurred?" When life shoves us toward the edge of our capacities… when we come to the end of ourselves… when we're empty with nothing more to give that can fix the unfixable… we discover tears.

And tears are the silent invitation to a God who cares!

Yesterday, Candace and I babysat our grandson, Fisher (23 months old), and our granddaughter, Dottie (5 months old), for 14 hours, 34 minutes and 22 seconds (not that I was counting!). Tyler and Amy celebrated their anniversary and Tyler's birthday by spending the whole day - and most of the night I might add - at Disneyland. This was the first time Ty and Amy were away from their children for any real length of time. The truth is, we had a very special time with Fisher and Dottie. In fact, we had so much fun with them that I was surprised when suddenly, about 6:00pm that night, Fisher became uncharacteristically quiet. He kinda shuffled over to a corner of the living room by himself and stood there with his hand up to his mouth. So… my first question was, "Fisher, are you pooping?" (Because, my friends, that is keen grandparental insight!) But he shook his head, "No." And that's when I knew something was up.

Fisher has an almost perennial smile on his face and really never stops playing until it’s bedtime… and even then he's so happy. As Fisher slowly made his way towards his parents bedroom, I could detect a marked sadness about him. At the door he turned around, with his hand still up to his mouth… and that's when I knew he missed his mom and dad so much his heart hurt. I think he was trying to hold back the tears by putting his hand up to his mouth. I walked over to him and said, "Fisher, can I pick you up?" Immediately, I saw the tears in his eyes… and as I picked him up I could feel the tears in my eyes as well. "Mommy and Daddy will be home very soon," I said, as he buried his head in my shoulder. I think that may have been the first time this little guy felt like something very valuable to him was missing… and he could not fix that in the moment. And so, without even knowing why, tears of sadness filled his eyes. And when I saw them, I felt them too… because I care for Fisher with all my heart.

Hebrews 4:15 declares that we have a high priest in Jesus who empathizes with all our weaknesses. He understands your pain. He knows every scrape, every scar, every wound, every bruise. He hears every mean word. He sees every hurtful thing. He feels every headache. He knows every heart-break! Jesus doesn't just see our pain… He feels it too! The difference is, unlike us, Jesus can do something about it to help the hurt, to heal the hurt, to finish the hurt. With tears in His eyes, Jesus turned to the tomb where Lazarus had laid dead for three days… and when He said, "Lazarus, come out," out of that tomb came a dead man walking!

And that's the reason Jesus is called, "Comforter." His tears reveal the depth of His compassion for you and for me. God cries because He cares… and because He cares He will act… for Mary, for Martha, for Fisher, for You, and for Me!