Tears Of Love

It was a sad day. Jesus accompanied Mary and Martha to the tomb of their brother, Lazarus. Both the sisters had told the Lord that Lazarus would have still been alive if He had arrived on time. His response to each was different, reflecting their personalities and how they would best receive the truth. Martha was ready for a discussion on the resurrection; Mary was not. So His only request was to see where Lazarus had been laid.
 
Mary's reply was simple, relational and reverent; "Come and see, Lord". Her initial reluctance to meet Him had been dispelled by His personal invitation; now she invited Him into the middle of her personal crisis. As Jesus joined the group of wailing mourners, He was emotionally involved and visibly moved. His loving compassion overflowed from His heart into His face, and tears flowed down His face. His heartfelt involvement was unlike the Rabbis who wailed on the outside without weeping from within. Jesus' compassion became the focus of the crowd's attention: genuine love was so different from ceremonial grief, and profoundly attractive.
 
The Lord always meets us where we are. He will invite us to come to Him and when He does, the right response is to invite Him to come to us - right into the middle of all that concerns us. He is genuinely caring: He does not 'have to' but He wants to. In the same way, those who follow Jesus will find their hearts are changed so that they want to 'rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep' (Romans 12:15). That sort of heartfelt compassion is a sign that Jesus is changing our hearts. Genuine love is a sign of God's heart, and the tears of a friend are a wonderful gift to those who are suffering ... it relieves their lonely grief. Sorrow needs to be set into a Biblical perspective, but also needs love which comes from the heart (1 Peter 1:22).