Torrential Tears

Introduction

When was the last time you cried? Some of us cry more than others. There are people that are so emotional they could cry at the drop of a hat. There are other people who hardly cry at anything at all. And what makes us cry. We cry when where happy, at the birth of our child, or maybe at our wedding. We cry when we are scared, and we cry when we are sad, maybe at the loss of someone or something very important to us. We cry at movies and shows. We cry when we listen to certain pieces of music. The list could go on and on for the reasons we cry.

There is nothing wrong with crying, it doesn’t make a person bad, or a wimp. In fact Scripture is filled with instances of people crying. Esau wept when Issac gave his blessing away. Jacob wept when he thought Joseph had been killed. Then Joseph wept when he saw his brothers again in Egypt. And Joseph and his Jacob wept when they were reunited. King David wept often. And we read in Psalm 137 that “by the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.” Weeping, especially over loss is found throughout the Bible. In fact I did a quick word search in the Old Testament I found found the word we translate at weeping (κλαίω) appears 137 in the Old Testament and 40 times in the New Testament. Weeping is a part of feeling and so weeping is an integral part of God’s creation.

In our scripture reading today we see Jesus weeping. This is not the first time in Scripture that we hear about Jesus weeping. In fact one of the easiest memory verses in Scripture comes from John 11:35. “Jesus Wept.” Then he was weeping for his dear friend Lazarus, who he raises from the dead just a few verses later.

Jesus weeping today was different, Jesus was weeping for something greater. Jesus was weeping for all of us.

Jesus Weeps for our Sins

We are all sinners

(Romans 3:23)

Our sins separate us from God

Adam and Eve in the garden

Saul’s sin lost him the throne

Israel’s sin lost them their promised lan

We are God’s special creation

There is loss with separation

We weep over loss because we love

How much more does God weep over us because he loves us

Troy

Jesus Weeps for our Suffering

Sin is the cause of suffering

Two types of suffering

Natural suffering (disasters, illness, inflicted)

Created suffering (things we bring on ourselves)

Both are products of sin

Created suffering

Addiction

Crime

Ignoring Christ

We are all offered a way out of our created suffering

A life in Christ

Transformation of the Holy Spirit

But to obtain this we must accept Christ/submit to the Spirit

When we don’t submit God weeps

Jesus Weeps for our Futures

God wants us to enjoy a future reward

It is a gift he offers to all people

The choice is ours whether to accept the future or not

Ancient Jews were offered this future

They rejected it

We must decide our future

God has laid a future out for us

Which shall we choose

Our selves or Him

God weeps when we choose our selves over him.

Conclusion

Jesus knew the hearts of the people. Even though at that moment they were celebrating him, he understood that soon they would abandon him. Jesus knew that God had laid out a future for them but it would not come without immense pain and suffering. The people would choose to suffer because of their sinful nature, and this meant that Jesus would also have to suffer.

Jesus offers us a future, a future without sin, without pain, without sorrow and without weeping. But that future does not come without a price. Jesus had to be lead to the cross to end sorrow, Jesus had to suffer and pay a price. We too are asked to pay a price. We must die to our selves. We must give up the thing we love the most, us. And we must surrender to Christ. Then, and only then, will be be able to gain the gift that Christ is offering to us. The gift of eternity. Let us pray.