Dan Czaplewski posted on June 06, 2007 12:55
Have you ever been told things like: “Big boys don’t cry.” “It’s not that bad, don’t cry.” “Stop crying, please.” The invitation to not cry is intended, I suppose, as a word of comfort. It rarely comforts, though, and often makes people angry.
Sometime we wish people would stop crying because it makes us feel uncomfortable. We get anxious when we are in the presence of someone whose heart is breaking.
In Luke 7: 13 Jesus told the widow at Nain, “don’t cry.” It must have seemed like a pretty insensitive remark at the time. This widow was walking in the funeral processional for her son, her only son. Based on my experience as a pastor, I am convinced that there is no deeper grief than that of a parent who has lost a child. It is hard to imagine that this woman could have felt any more pain than she was feeling when Jesus met her at the entrance to the town of Nain.
But Jesus was able to back up his words. The admonition, “don’t cry,” wasn’t in isolation. I can remember my parents offering me a reason to cry if I didn’t stop crying. I don’t recall ever taking them up on their generous offer. Jesus, on the other hand, told the widow not to cry because he was going to give her a reason NOT to cry. Bringing the son back to life was a pretty good reason for the widow not to cry or at least not to cry in grief.
The Bible scholar, William Barclay, said, “we live in a world of broken hearts.” It may not be because of the grief of death, but there are broken hearts all around us. Jesus came to “bind up the broken hearted.” He has more grace than we have sorrow – more hope than we have despair. Go ahead and cry, if you want to, but know that there is always hope in Christ. He will bring healing to your broken heart.
Jesus starts by binding up your heart and then equips you to be part of His healing effort in the world. God bless you today as you hold to that hope and share it with the broken hearted in your world.