~ "Do not stand by my grave and weep..."

Jesus wept. (John 11:35)

Although it is the shortest verse in the Bible, it carries a powerful message. It puts Christ, our Savior, into human terms that we can understand. Not a person alive has never cried.

In Barnes' Notes on the Bible, we are offered 4 distinct attributes for Jesus' tears. Devotion to the ties of friendship "makes more tender the emotions of love, and seals and sanctifies the affections of friends"; it is natural to "to sympathize with others in their afflictions"; that it is human nature to weep; and it shows us the true tenderness that is Jesus.

Our lives are constantly filled with struggles and uphill battles. We cry; we've caused others to cry. The saying "don't judge a man until you've walked in his shoes" tells us that we all carry inner burdens that others are not aware of. This man who came to die for us was no exception. Jesus knew what was going to happen, he faced it alone. His disciples could not begin to understand, nor was there anything they could do. Unless you've faced the same sorrow, you cannot tell another "I know how you feel". There was no one that Jesus could go, so he went to the Father in prayer. Prayer for the strength to accomplish this task, a plea that if there was any other way besides his own death, and finally submission to the power of God.

We are called into the same submission. The power of God carries with it all the promises of this life and the one to come. The power of God is one not to be reckoned with. It is as limitless as it is endless. It is greater than any force in the universe. It is stronger than any army that has ever marched, wiser than any king who has ever reigned, and it is real as anything tangible on the earth.

There is strength, there is cleansing, there is love, there is pain and there is joy in tears! They wash away the debris from our eyes, and sometimes from our hearts. They point us to the direct understanding of Christ's love for us. They are a reminder that he, too, wept ~ and with greater reason than any of us could ever imagine! What John would later write in Chapter 15, takes on a whole new meaning, because of this one, simple, human response: "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13).