Tears Are Okay

 

As we study the death of Lazarus, we see Jesus weeping! 

His tears cause debate among Bible students. Did he cry because he had compassion for Mary and Martha, the dead man's family and friends?  Did he weep because the crowd didn't believe He was God's Son?

Moments bring sadness and a need to spill drops of sorrow can be beneficial.

As to Jesus and His tears, I think He was sad for the sisters, and He was also frustrated at the lack of belief from the onlookers. Perhaps he was also brokenhearted because He must bring Lazarus back into the world again. Lazarus would leave perfect Paradise and rejoin the wicked below. And he would have to die once more.

Could the Son of God be sad and frustrated?  Yes, He was both human and divine. As a human, he felt our emotions. And He still does.

Has anyone ever asked you, "Why are you crying? It's nothing to cry over."

Sometimes, we have good reason for tears. I wonder if Lazarus wept when Jesus resurrected him. He might have been glad and sad all at the same time.

 Lazarus got a major whammy. He was sick, died, and brought back from his new 4 day existence of total health and peace. Now get this. Since Lazarus was once dead, but now alive, the Jewish rulers wanted him dead. He was a credit to Jesus, and so the rulers decided to rid the world of both of them! The rulers must have said something like this: "You were dead, now you're alive, and we're going to kill you."

Our situations may not be as dramatic as his, but they are as intense to us.

Can you imagine the five-year-old who was abandoned at the Texas border?  Is it possible to identify with the one vanishing with cancer? The one losing income and home? The dying child? Sorrow exists. How do we handle it? Grief comes our way. Do we become closer to God or farther away?  The choice is ours.

But it is okay to cry with the choices we face.

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