Jesus Wept

 Dylan was telling me the other day how he was having a conversation with his special "friend" about how he has been known to cry at movies more than once.  We laughed and began to recall all the movies we have cried at together.  Some we have cried while watching them here at home, but we have cried rivers at the movie theaters too.  The one that came to mind right away was I Can Only Imagine.  Boy did we cry.  It was so bad my shirt sleeves were completely wet at the end.  We had no tissues so...I tell you, it was bad.  I remember how Dylan said to me at the end of the movie that he was sobbing so loud that he was self conscious about the people next to him until he realized they were sobbing too.  

I am a softy.  My movie-crying experiences are not limited to dramatic/tragic stories either.  I've cried at movies like Rogue 1, from the Star Wars series, and Avengers End Game... I mean, really!  I cry every time I watch an episode of Little House on the Prairie.  I cry at cartoon movies!  Forget about dog movies...sigh...anyway, tears flow freely because like Dylan once told me:  "we have too many emotions."

There's nothing like tears to demonstrate a person's humanity.  In this era of technology, when we have Artificial Intelligence performing tasks that used to be reserved only to humans such as flying a plane, driving a car, carrying out all kinds of surgeries, writing a composition, poetry or even a novel, only humans are capable of producing emotional tears. That is why there are two words in Scripture that reveal Jesus' humanity like not many others can:  "Jesus wept." (John 11: 35)

Those two words make one stop, don't they?  They are as powerful as they are melancholic.  Jesus, the Lord of Lord and King of Kings...the One to whom the winds and the waves obey...the Creator of all that there is...wept.  I can't help it but to just pause and be in awe.

Jesus shares humanity with us in every aspect, except in sin.  He walked on the dusty roads of Israel.  His feet got dirty and tired.  He sweated.  He got hungry and thirsty.  He enjoyed Himself.  He suffered.  He loved and continues to love and He wept.  He knows what it is to cry.  He knows the tightness we feel in our chest.  He knows the knot that forms in our throats when crying is about to begin.  He knows the head ache and heart ache.  He knows what causes tears to roll down one's cheeks because He has felt all of that.  He felt it over the pain of loved ones experiencing loss.  He felt it over the hurt of knowing His Sacred city being lost. (Luke 19: 41)  He felt it over His own sense of loneliness and terror during the agony at the Garden of Gethsemane. (Hebrews 5: 7)  He experienced it all...just like we do as we journey through this valley of tears.

Sigh...

Well, I don't think Jesus cried at the movies like Dylan and I do...that's just silly to even begin to consider...but He did cry.  He tasted the salty discharge that is a sure sign of being alive and made out of flesh and blood.  And He did it all for us.  Blessed Redeemer, how we love You.  In Your Precious Name, Lord Jesus, for You were obedient to be fully human so you could experience it all with us, even death...even tears.  Praise You and Thank You for Who You Are.  Amen!