"There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief...and unspeakable love." Washington Irving
"Jesus wept"is the shortest verse in the Bible. Have you ever wondered why He wept? Why as He stood by Lazarus' tomb, knowing that He was about to raise his friend from the dead, did He cry?
He came to show us the Father. Emmanuel, "God with us" was revealing God the Father's heart to us. When He created the world, it was good. Nothing died. Nothing died until Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. God knew before He even made them what they would do and had a plan already to redeem us.
Jesus wept because our sorrow matters to God.
This isn't the only time Scripture records Jesus weeping. He wept in the garden as He prayed in anguish for God the Father to let the cup pass from Him. In Psalm 58, David says that God saves our tears. They are precious to Him because we are precious to Him.
As we begin this new year, 2023, there may be many reasons we will cry, but those of us who know Jesus as Lord do not weep like those without hope. We know the true and living Savior, who defeated death while paying the price for our sin and shame. One day, maybe very soon, He's coming and calling us up to see the place He's prepared for each one of us. Then we will always be with the Lord. This is our blessed hope and comfort.
