Do Not Weep
Posted by: ba <ba@...>
http://www.forthright.net
Straight to the Cross
COLUMN: Final Phase
Do Not Weep
by J. Randal Matheny
At a funeral, it borders on cruelty to say, "Do
not weep." The hot tears for one's loss can hardly
be contained. Shock, sadness, grief are all
legitimate human emotions whose expressions may be
accepted and even encouraged. Though eventually
the crying subsides, the pain continues, the
sadness lingers on.
Before Lazarus's tomb, "Jesus wept" (John 11:35).
John does not mention what provoked his weeping,
but his inner turmoil suggests he was moved deeply
by the moment.
So the words fall strangely on our ears from
Jesus' lips, "Do not weep," when he and his
followers, entering the city of Nain, meet a train
of mourners carrying the body of a widow's son to
its burial. Luke says his compassion prompts the
words (7:13).
Often, well-meaning words do the most damage.
Spoken to cheer up, even the right words,
proffered too soon, or in false hope, wound worse
than an enemy's bitterest invectives.
So why does Jesus say to the mourning widow, "Do
not weep"?
These words presage her son's resurrection. Jesus
tells the woman not to weep, because he will
shortly remove her reason for weeping. He will
raise her son from the dead.
If anyone can justify saying, "Do not weep," Jesus
can. If someone could offer more than words, our
Lord could. And did.
When Christians worried about the future of
deceased loved ones, Paul explained with consoling
words their secure status, "that you may not
grieve" (2 Thess. 4:13-18). Instead of saying "Do
not weep," he encouraged, "Therefore comfort one
another with these words" (v. 18).
The best one can do, Paul says, is to "rejoice
with those who rejoice, and weep with those who
weep" (Rom. 12:15).
So we weep with those who weep, we remember that
Jesus wept, we recall the security of disciples
who have preceded us in death, and we comfort one
another with such words.
And yet ... we still hear Jesus speak, "Do not
weep."
Though we do not look to the coffin for the dead
to rise, through the blur of our tears we raise
our eyes for the rending of the skies.
Midst the cries and wails of our grief, we listen
for an angel's trumpet.
Between sighs and flashes of painful memories, we
lose our breath at the thought of rising in the
air to meet the waiting Lord.
"Do not weep." We know the words are meant for us
as well. And we know that he will take away our
reason for weeping.
Any moment now.
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