I wonder who it was that first shed a tear in the Bible? Perhaps it was Adam and Eve after they had been banned from the Garden of Eden. Did they weep over their fallen condition? They had reason to cry. Their paradise had been corrupted by their sin and they would no longer be able to return. Regardless of when the first tear fell, the Bible is full of tears.
Esau wept when he realized that he had missed out on his father Isaac’s blessing. Joseph wept when he was reunited with his brothers. The people of Israel wept when their leader Moses died. Ruth wept and clung to her mother-in-law, Naomi. King David wept at the death of his son. Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet. Jesus wept when he saw the grief of Mary and Martha. Peter, the disciple, wept after he betrayed Jesus. And Mary Magdalene wept outside the tomb of Jesus. Indeed, the Bible is full of stories of tears.
Our lives are also filled with tears. Tears of pain, sorrow, anger, fear, anxiety, and grief fill the pages of our lives. We have all wept over someone or some experience in our lives that has left us broken. We know what it is like to have a heavy heart and to feel our eyes grow heavy under the weight of our tears. We know the feel of tears streaming down our faces. We know what it is like to fall asleep with tears on our pillows. Someone once said, “tears are how our hearts speak when our lips cannot describe how much we have been hurt.
In the book of Revelation, John records the visions he had of heaven. John looked toward a future in which the sadness and hurt that we experience in this world will be no more. In Revelation 21: 3-4 John writes, “‘See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes.” John envisions a future where they will be no more tears. The stories of our tears of living in a broken world will be wiped away by the tender and healing hands of God’s grace. God is preparing for all who place their faith in Jesus Christ, a future, and eternity without tears. When all is said and done with the stories of our lives, it will be a tearless ending.
This is our hope as we live out our lives in this world. In the present, God knows every tear that falls and is with us as a comforting presence. There will be tears in this life, but we will never weep outside the boundaries of God’s grace. And ultimately, we live today with a hope for tomorrow in a tearless eternity in the everlasting light and joy of our savior where God will wipe away every tear from our eyes.
Conversations from the Couch 