Tears of the Lord
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September 17, 2017 |
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 Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
"Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2).
Jesus shed many tears because of overflowing love in His heart. It was the love for souls and for God the Father. We should understand the meaning of 'the tears of the Lord' and feel His rich love dissolved in His tears. Let's take a look at the three meanings of these tears.
First, His Tears Are for the Salvation of Souls.
Jesus came to this earth to become the Savior. Though He was one with God, Jesus left this glory behind and put on a human body. He came down for souls who would be subject to eternal punishment of death due to their sins. It was to lead them out of the horrors of hell into the beautiful heaven. He preached about Heaven and manifested signs and wonders.
He did it so that souls could realize Jesus is the Son of God and the Christ if they had even the least bit of goodness in their hearts. But many souls didn't believe Him. They rather showed enmity toward Him. They even considered Him crazy. The relatives of Jesus didn't believe Jesus, either. They rather believed the rumors of people and tried to stop Jesus.
The lawyers and Pharisees condemned Jesus when Jesus healed sick people on the Sabbath day. When Jesus cast out demons from people, they mocked Jesus and said He did it only by the ruler of the demons.
Jesus put on the same form of the souls for the sole purpose of saving sinners, but people didn't recognize who Jesus was. When people gathered around Jesus to listen to the heavenly gospel Jesus preached, lawyers and scribes watched Him with the eyes of jealousy. More people followed Jesus as He manifested great signs and wonders, and the Pharisees and the high priests conspired to kill Jesus.
Jesus Himself saw, heard, and felt the heart of these evil people. He prayed to God in tears. He wished that not only those who followed and accepted Him could reach salvation, but also those who rejected, judged and condemned Him. The tears of Jesus were the heart of Jesus who wanted the salvation of souls.
Secondly, His Tears Are for the Change of Souls.
In the days of Jesus, many people couldn't understand the spiritual message as they were blinded by fleshly thoughts. When Jesus said, "I am the bread that came down out of heaven," as in John Chapter 6, even among those who followed Jesus some grumbled and said, "This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it and understand?" And, many of them left Jesus.
There were also many people who couldn't understand the providence of God because of their self-righteousness and frameworks. In Matthew Chapter 15, the Pharisees and scribes watched Jesus' every move and tried to find something to accuse Jesus of. When they found something that was not consistent with their self-righteousness and frameworks, they argued with Jesus. Instead of rebuking their obstinacy, however, Jesus helped them understand it by using figures of speech. During His public ministry, Jesus preached with various examples and figures of speech and parables so that the Pharisees and scribes could also understand the good will of God.
In addition, Jesus prayed with love for His disciples who were with Him all the time. Jesus thought of His disciples who would be left after His crucifixion, and He wished that they might manage their duties well and live together with Him in Heaven forever. He thought of each and every one of them, and prayed to God to take care of them. The tearful prayer that Jesus made for His disciples worked as great strength to His disciples.
Apostle Paul said in Romans 8:35-37, "Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, 'For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us." All of the disciples of the Lord, including Matthias who replaced Judas Iscariot, were honored to have names imprinted on the 12 foundation stones of New Jerusalem.
The Tears of the Lord Are, Thirdly, the Tears for the Glory of God.
When Jesus put on the flesh and came down to this earth, people didn't seek God, but became the slaves to the enemy devil and Satan. Although God is the only One who is worthy to be praised by people, they worshiped meaningless idols. Yet, Jesus lived the life of glorifying only God. By showing the omnipotence of God, Jesus lifted the name of God on high.
When Jesus was told that Lazarus was sick, as recorded in John Chapter 11, He said in verse 4, "This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it." Eventually Jesus revived Lazarus who had been dead for four days. Thanks to this work, the glory of God was greatly revealed, and many people started to believe in Jesus. Moreover, He enabled the mute to speak, the lame to walk, and He restored the crippled. He let the blind see, cast out demons, and cleansed the leapers.
The reason Jesus showed these signs was that He wanted people to give glory to God. He wanted people to believe that God is great and that there is nothing impossible for Him. He wanted them to know that God is the One true and only God, so that people could worship and praise only God.
It is the same reason that God gives us answers when we pray in the name of Jesus Christ. In John 14:13 Jesus said, "Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son."
Jesus' suffering on the cross was also for the glory of God. Only when Jesus became the atoning sacrifice for sinners could countless souls be forgiven and become the children of God. As Jesus died He expected how pleased God would be when God gained countless children. Such a heart of Jesus was well recorded in Jesus' prayer that He gave to the Father on the day He was arrested. Jesus prayed in John 17:4-5, "I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was."
As you can see, Jesus lived His life only for the glory of God, and He died for the glory of God. Though He shed many tears while living on this earth, the fruit of His tears is so great. So many children of God have been born, and God has been and will be glorified through them forever.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the tears that the Lord shed were the tears of love and the evidence of His sacrifice for souls. You are the fruits borne by the tears of the Lord (Psalm 126:5-6). I pray in the name of the Lord you will glorify God by bearing all the better and more beautiful fruits.
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