No Tears in Heaven -- But on Earth We Sometimes Must Cry, Just as Jesus Did

“God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more  death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:  for the former things are passed away.” —Rev. 21:4. The Word of God tells us of the day when tears shall be gone forever. Until we come  to that day, we move through this world in the midst of tears.  It is okay to cry, and  often it can be a healin thing. Let us not scoff at the man who cries. Some of the world’s greatest people have shed tears. Often it is not a sign of weakness. This was a sign of strength. Henry Ward Beecher said, “I knew but two men who boasted that so far as they knew, they had never shed a tear. I watched the careers of those two men. One died in a lunatic asylum, and the other spent his life in the penitentiary.” Don’t boast about your hardheartedness or refusal to shed tears. Instead, pray that  God will give you a tender heart which will sympathize with others. Jesus was a Man of tears. Isaiah tells us Christ was “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” On three occasions Christ is pictured as weeping: at the grave of Lazarus, over the city of Jerusalem and in the Garden of Gethsemane. Think of our great Saviour weeping over a city. His heart was torn, and His tears represented His attitude toward a lost world. Who was this One who was crying? The Author of our Bible, the Refuge of our souls, the Hope of our resurrection, the Builder of our Heaven, the Source and Provider of  all our spiritual blessings. The Word of God has over 250 names for our Christ, including the Fountain from which we drink and quench our thirst, the Hiding Place for our troubled souls, our Intercessor at God’s right hand, our coming King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is the Christ who hung the stars in place and stood with God in the creation  of all things. When Christ wept over the city of Jerusalem, why did He weep? First, He wept over Jerusalem because He saw their blind eyes. Christ could see men in their true spiritual condition. He saw them dead in trespasses and sins. He saw them under the wrath of God. He saw them without God and without hope. Oh, that we might have the eyes of Jesus to see the condition of men without Christ! We need to see people as dead in trespasses and sins, sinking into the pit of Hell without our loving Saviour. It is not right that we should consider this so lightly. It is an evil tendency of our day that Christians care so little about the spiritual condition of others. May the Spirit of  God cut His way into callused hearts and bring about a compassion for souls which w e have not had before. Let us begin to look upon men and women as lost or saved, and when we think of men lost, let us think of all that it means. Second, He wept over Jerusalem because He saw their rejection of Him. The greatest sin is the sin of rejection. This sin will send men into an everlasting Hell. Christ came “to seek and to save that which was lost”; but when He looked upon Jerusalem, He saw a city which had rejected Him. “He came unto his own, and his own received Him not.” Yes, there were some who did receive Him, but most refused Him, and “Jesus wept.” Third, He wept over Jerusalem because He saw their destiny. We may gloss over the awfulness of Hell, but our Christ could not do so. At any moment the Saviour could look into the pit of Hell and see the awful punishment of sinners. At any moment He could look into the presence of God and see the blessedness of the saved. Therefore, He looked on Jerusalem and saw that many were going to Hell and were missing Heaven, and He wept. Christ saw sinners dying without hope, going to an endless, eternal Hell. He was not troubled about their death but about their death without hope. Man is an eternal soul. He is going to spend eternity either in Heaven or in Hell. Christ wept over a city when He saw the people in their downward course. May we pray for Christlikeness as we view a lost world today. May the tears of  compassion fill our eyes as they filled His. Think earnestly upon the tears of Jesus. Thank God, we have a Saviour who cares. He gave us demonstrations of His love when He walked upon this earth. He showed His concern at the grave of Lazarus. He expressed His sympathy when He wept over Jerusalem. He showed His compassion. He healed the sick, raised the dead, straightened the limbs of the crippled and opened the eyes of the blind. He saw the tears of the sorrowing widow as she followed the casket holding the body of her boy. With compassion He looked upon the thief who died by His side and, because of his faith, gave him the assurance of Heaven. Jesus cares! “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” We have tears here, but no tears after God wipes them all away in Heaven. We are journeying toward Heaven, some faster than others it seems. For some it is near; for others it is still a distance away. Christians are going to that place where disappointments will not come, plans will not fail, bodies will not decay, and death will not enter. I want to get just as many people ready for Heaven as I can. Hell is a place where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth”; Heaven is a place of joy, happiness and no tears.