Of Fathers and Sonsናሙና

Today’s analogy is (not quite, but stick with me): “Real men don’t cry.”

OK, that’s not completely true.  Today’s Bible readings are about some times when Jesus cried, and also some times when he didn’t.  I had the chance to think about these a bit more when I had a talk with my son Caleb about crying.

I’ve told my son several times over the years that the right time to cry is “when bad things happen to people you love”.  I’m not claiming this is 100% correct but it’s been a pretty good guiding principle over the years so I’ll stick with it.

But once again, my son had burst into rebellious tears about something his mom had told him to do, so I took him aside and asked him, “Do you know when Jesus cried?”  As you can imagine, he replied, “Was it when the soldiers were beating him?”

Somehow it struck me in a way that it never had before - that no, this was not when Jesus cried.  Even through the most severe torture, the Gospels never suggest that Jesus shed a tear for his own suffering.  But the Bible does relate specific instances when Jesus cried.  So I’ll go out on a limb and say that: like Jesus, real men don’t cry for ourselves, but we do hurt deeply, and even cry, when bad things happen to people we love.

In John 11:32-36, Jesus wept over the death of his friend.

In Luke 19:41-44, Jesus cried when he prophetically saw the future destruction of Jerusalem.

In Mark 3:1-6, Jesus grieved at the injustice of evil leaders toward a hurting individual.

As you read today’s Bible passages, ask Jesus to break your heart for what breaks his.