The Language of Sympathy

Tears are the language of sympathy in all nations.
Everybody understands the language of tears.

Many years ago Woodrow Wilson's secretary came into his private office to find him weeping as though his heart would break.
"Why the tears, Mr. Wilson?" he asked.

"I am weeping," he replied, "for the imperiled liberties of the world."

The shortest verse in the Bible tells us that "Jesus wept." The creator of this world, in whom all things consist, the author of our salvation, the great head of our churches, the King of Kings and Lord of lords, wept.

He foretold his own tragic death. He saw the dark, unspeakable sorrow of Gethsemane ahead, the cruel crown of thorns, and the rusty nails, but he never wept for himself.

Praying at Gethsemane

His were tears of sympathy at a time of sorrow. His friend Lazarus was dead. Others were weeping and so was he. Such tears speak louder than words to our hearts.

How wonderful it is to see him speak to the raging billows and know that they obey him; to see him touch a blind man's eyes and know that he goes away seeing; to hear him speak to a paralytic and see the once lame man carry his bed away; to see him cleanse ten lepers, though only one returned to thank him. How marvelous to witness Jesus' healing powers.

Jesus Depicted as a Healer

But when Jesus goes with us to the graveside where our beloved are buried, and stands in our midst with a tear-stained face and a sobbing heart, how real he is to us and how we love him!

A tomb without Jesus is a sad, gloomy, lonely place, afflicting the heart with melancholy and despair. What a difference it makes when Jesus stands there! Hope, love, and immortality combine in him.

Kikuo a Retainer of the Feudal Lord Prays at His Dead Master's Grave

When you are called upon to visit the grave of a loved one or to go to a new grave, ask the Saviour to go with you. Then you will not seek among the dead those who live forever and are clothed with immortality. Your heart will not be filled with sadness, but with Joy unspeakable, glorious.

For if Jesus stands with you at the tomb of your loved one, you will see the dawn of an eternal day and you will hear his sweet voice saying, "The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live" (John 5:25).

James P. Wesberry
images courtesy of All Posters