THE TEARS OF JESUS

JOHN 11:3

A. THE TEARS OF JESUS
  1. Twice in the gospel narrative is Jesus recorded to have wept:
    1. Over the unbelieving and doomed city of Jerusalem - Luke 19:41
    2. At the grave of His very close friend Lazarus as indicated in our opening text
    3. In the Garden of Gethsemane when in agony as He faced humiliation, suffering and death - Luke 22:44; Heb. 5:7
  2. Much valuable and consolatory reflection is suggested by the simple record, "Jesus wept":
    1. We shall do well on this occasion of sorrow and grief to temper our grief by meditating upon the implication of our opening text
    2. May the Holy Spirit guide us to find the lesson of comfort we need at this hour B. THE TEARS OF JESUS
  3. Christ's capacity for tears:
    1. It is obvious to say that this capacity lay in His true human nature
    2. As we read in Job, "Man is born to sorrow" or trouble" - Job 5:7
    3. Jesus was a man of sorrow - Is. 53:3-4
    4. Man is made to mourn - Job 2:11
    5. The tears of Jesus were shed for others, not for Himself - He knew the implications of death
    6. This capacity lay - not only in His humanity, but revealed His Divine nature; it expressed the attitude of His heavenly Father
    7. It is unjust to represent God as unfeeling for of Him the Psalmist says, "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him" - Ps. 119:13-16
  4. The special occasion of Christ's tears:
    1. The narrative reveals - (i) His personal sorrow for the death of His friend
    2. The home of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary was a place of a retreat from the pressures of the ministry to meet human need and suffering
    3. His sympathy with Martha and Mary at the loss of their brother moved Him to tears because He loved them dearly
    4. Also, His consciousness of the power of sin and the havoc it causes to humanity, moved Him to compassion expressed by His tears - Matt. 9:36; Luke 7:11- 13 C. THE PRACTICAL OUTCOME OF CHRIST'S TEARS
  5. There are cases in which tears are a substitute for help:
    1. They bring comfort to those who sorrow
    2. This writer's personal experience testifies to such comfort
  6. But that was not the final end in this case:
    1. The heart that found expression for its woe in tears, found expression for its sympathy and pity in the reaching out of a helping hand
    2. Jesus first wept, and then succoured the sorrowful and raised the dead - John 11:25-42
  7. Christian sympathy should be like Christ's sympathy:
    1. It should manifest itself to render such help as will ease the pressure of loneliness that is associated with many bereavements
    2. Experience shows that in many instances painful loneliness persists when a loved one has been taken out of a family
  8. The significance of the lesson of our Lord's tears:
    1. They assure us that we have in Him a feeling friend who in all our affliction is afflicted - Is. 63:9
    2. Said Job, "Did not I weep for him that was in trouble" was not my soul grieved for the poor?" - Job 30:25
    3. Says the Psalmist, "But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer returned into mine own bosom. I behaved myself as though He had been my friend or brother; I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother" - Ps. 35:13-14
  9. The special lesson of our text:
    1. The tears of Jesus assure us that the day will come and that very soon, when the cause of tears will be removed forever
    2. Says John the beloved, "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, or crying neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away" - Rev. 21:4
    3. Says the Psalmist, "I shall be satisfied when I awake in Thy likeness" - Ps. 17:15


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