Do the Tears We Shed Have Value?

In the Bible, there are at least 210 verses which speak of “crying”, and at least 43 verses referring to “tears.” It seems there’s a lot of crying and tears in the Bible. Even the Son of God, when he came as a man, wept. Thus, we see that it is alright to cry. But let me ask, for whom do we shed tears? Do the tears we shed have value?

We differentiate tears into two kinds: 1. valuable tears and 2. value-less tears.

I. Value-less Tears

1. Tears of Greed (Deuteronomy 11:4-6, 10)

Numbers 11: 4-6, 10 “The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost – also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite, we never see anything but this manna! …Moses heard the people of every family wailing, each at the entrance to his tent. The Lord became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled.”

The Israelites cried in the wilderness, but it brought on the Lord’s anger. Their crying displeased the Lord. Their crying was worthless, for these were tears of greed. For forty years in the wilderness, the Lord provided the Israelites with manna to eat. Manna means ‘what is this’. Manna was a food that no one has ever seen nor eaten before. When the Israelites first saw this manna, they asked each other `what is this’, so, they called this food “manna”.

What does manna symbolize? To understand, let us consider the three things inside the Ark of the Covenant:
1. Stone tablets (The Ten Commandments)
2. Aaron’s staff , and
3. Manna.

The Ark of the Covenant symbolized the Lord’s presence with his people. The Gospel of John chapter 1 tells us Jesus was the Word, and the Word became flesh, and three things are in Jesus – John 1:4 “In him was life” John 1:14 “…full of grace and truth”. In Jesus, there is 1. Life 2. Grace 3. Truth. The Stone Tablets, which are the Ten Commandments, symbolized Truth. Aaron’s budding staff symbolized life (the staff is a piece of dead wood, but it budded, therefore, it was resurrected back to life). Manna symbolized grace.

For forty years, they had manna to eat, and it didn’t cost them even one cent, it was truly grace. The Israelites wanted to eat meat in the wilderness, everyone cried at the entrance to his own tent. The Bible said they craved and started wailing. They wailed because in their hearts they craved for those things, and when they could not get what they craved for, they began to feel sorry for themselves, so they wailed.

Is there value in such crying? I tell you, all crying for material things are value-less. Because we must remember, each one of us enters this world empty-handed, and we will leave this world empty handed. We did not bring anything into this world, neither will we bring anything with us as we leave it. Just like what Job said, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.” What is there to cry about?

2. Deserved Weeping (Deut 1:42 – 46)

The Lord said to me, “ Tell them, ‘Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you. You will be defeated by your enemies.” So I told you, but you would not listen. You rebelled against the Lord’s command and in your arrogance you marched up into the hill country. The Amorites who lived in those hills came out against you; they chased you like a swarm of bees and beat you down from Seir all the way to Hormah.”

This was a painful experience for the Israelites. When the 12 spies returned, 10 of them gave bad reports – we cannot enter because those who live there devour people, thus, the Israelites started to grumble and complain. They in fact wanted to kill Moses, and choose a new leader to lead them back to Egypt. The Lord became very angry with them, punished them by making them wander in the desert for 40 years.

When they realized they had sinned, they became willing to go, but the Lord told them not to go because `I will not be with you.’ But they refused to listen, they went and as a result, they were beaten by their enemies. They came and wept before the Lord. The Lord turned a deaf ear to their crying. I call their crying ‘deserved weeping’.

What is `deserved weeping’? Initially they didn’t have to cry, if only they had trusted the Lord. If they had trusted in the Lord’s grace and power, they would have been laughing, not crying. But because they refused to listen to the Lord, they wept. In Fookien, that is called, “putting lice on one’s own head.” Such weeping is deserved weeping.

II. Valuable Tears

1. Tears of Compassion – Job’s Three Friends (Job 2:11-12)

“When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads.”

Job was a righteous man, the Bible described him as blameless and upright, feared God and shunned evil. But he was attacked by Satan, in one day he received four pieces of bad news:
1. His 1000 oxen and 500 donkeys were stolen
2. His 7000 sheep were burned by fire from the sky
3. His 3000 camels were stolen
4. His 10 children died in one day.

In one day, Job lost all his properties and his family members. Satan continued to attack Job. He afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. At this time, Job’s three friends came to visit him and when they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him, we see that Job’s physical appearance must have greatly changed because of the sores all over his body. Job’s three friends were speechless and all they could do was weep aloud. For seven days and seven nights, they sat beside Job. This was a great comfort to Job during a time of great suffering. His three friends’ tears were tears of compassion. Compassion comes from two words – passion which means suffering or passion, and com which means the same. Compassion is to feel the same as the other person; to weep with those who weep. To shed tears for others is truly shedding valuable and meaningful tears.

2. Sacrificial Tears – Jesus’ cry

Three times, the Lord had wept while He was on earth. First, in John 11:35 “Jesus wept.” Second, in Luke 19:41 “Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem” and the third, in Hebrews 5:7 “Jesus’ loud cries and tears in the Garden of Gethsemane”. These were very valuable tears, because these were shed because of others, these were sacrificial tears.

1st. Jesus Cried at Lazarus’ Tomb

Why did Jesus cry? John 11:33 “When Jesus saw her (Mary) weeping…”.The Bible tells us, Jesus loved Martha and her sister Mary and Lazarus. This was family who was loved by the Lord. Every time Jesus went to Jerusalem, he would live in their house at Bethany. Now, Jesus saw the person he loves crying, how can he not be grieved too? The Bible says that Jesus also saw ”…the Jews who had come along with her also weeping”,and his heart was all the more grieved. When Jesus saw the tomb where Lazarus was laid, he wept; because death’s power filled the place. 1Cor 15, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” The world is under the power of sin, all men are bound to face death. Jesus wept, not because the person he loved was weeping, but because he saw the weeping of the world, because all men are bound by sin, death seeks to devour every man. Humans are really pitiful, so Jesus wept. Jesus was weeping for the sins of men, Jesus was weeping for the suffering that death brings to all men.

2nd. Jesus wept over Jerusalem

When Jesus lifted his eyes and saw Jerusalem, he wept over it. Why did he weep? Because Jesus knew Jerusalem will have to suffer. Again and again, Jesus preached the gospel of repentance to Jerusalem, but they rejected it again and again. Jesus said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace – but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” True enough, in 70AD, the Roman army invaded Jerusalem, and did not leave one stone on another. Jesus wept because he foresaw the suffering of Jerusalem.

3rd. Jesus’ loud cries and tears in Gethsemane

Jesus cried in the Garden of Gethsemane. For Jesus, the most painful thing on the cross was separation from God the Father. On the cross, he carried the sins of the world and God had to turn away from him. Jesus cried on the cross, “Father, why have you forsaken me?” This was the most painful aspect of the cross for Jesus. If you will be separated from the one you love the most, won’t you be grieved? Jesus had to be separated from the Father because of ours sins. We were the ones who were supposed to weep, but Jesus wept on our behalf.

Jesus wept three times, but never once for himself, it was all for others. Jesus’ tears were shed not for himself, but for others. Often, we cry for ourselves, because we had been unjustly treated, because I have no money, because I am not handsome, because I am not beautiful…we can cry for many reasons, but how much have we cried because of others? because of God?

Psalm 5:8 “Record my lament; list my tears on your scroll – are they not in your record?” If the tears we shed are meaningful and worthy, the Lord will remember them, because these would be the most precious gifts. May the Lord treasure the tears we shed