Jesus speaks in your hearing today, saying,
In another chapter of St. Luke, Mary Magdalene weeps upon
Jesus’ feet, washing them, and then anoints His head for His approaching death
and burial. She is not weeping for sorrow, but joy that a man has come
into the world to redeem her, a poor, miserable sinner.
In Genesis, it is Hagar weeping for Ishmael, because he is
about to die in their common exile in the wilderness.
Israel weeps in hunger in the wilderness.
Israel weeps 30 days over the death of Moses and even Jeremiah is called the weeping prophet, having so much sorrow in his
time as a prophet to the Lord’s people.
And on, and on. Humanity weeps throughout all of the history
of salvation. But, weeping is not just exclusive to Christianity. Everybody
weeps over one thing or another and that is easy to understand. When events
lead out of our control or when something so tragic and personal hits us, the
body and the soul offer no other option but to weep.
It is natural for you to weep. You weep at sickness,
disability, and death and indeed you should. These things are alien and do not
belong in God’s creation and these are the very things that will not make it
into heaven, after the Last Day.
You weep with your brother. When your neighbor is in dire
straits or amidst tragedy, you weep with him. Sometimes words just get in the
way. You should be weeping for the Police Officers killed in action. You should
be weeping for mother’s who loose their sons to violence and war. You should be
weeping for the unborn who do not make it to the age where they can vote
against abortion.
Jesus draws near to Jerusalem
and weeps over it. And Jesus weeps over it for all the reasons you weep and all
the reasons that all of Israel
has wept in the Old Testament. Like Hagar, Jesus weeps because His son, His
chosen Israel,
has died in the wilderness of their sin.
Like Israel ,
Jesus weeps over the death all His prophets, not just Moses, but Abel, Noah,
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Some of them got to live out their lives pretty
comfortably and even Israel ,
at the time of Jesus, was not doing so bad on its own.
Indeed, the Scribes and the Pharisees were insistent that
things were fine. Yeah the Romans were here, but god would take care of that
through their hands. Otherwise, all of Israel had never been stronger as a
people, never more populous, and never more under the O.T. law of “love your neighbor”.
Truly, the Jerusalem
that Jesus weeps over was in no need of such mourning because everything was
fine.
Repent. Your overlords would love nothing to tell you that
everything is fine in this country and likewise, false prophets. They tell you
to not worry about the bad and the evil. They say that you are stronger together
and can make things great again. You believe them and start to believe it, even
about your own life.
If everything is fine, why is Jesus, the God of all Creation
weeping? If everything can be solved by positive thinking, 10 second hugs, and
making others feel good, why is it not working? If dying is just a passing on
to the next world, why does it hurt so much?
Mary Magdalene knows why. Mary knows what God is thinking
and what God is doing. She knows that her sins are multiple scarlet letters
tattooed on her for everyone to see. Mary knows that if God Himself does not
come to rescue her and relive her of this horrible burden of sin and death,
that she will be lost forever.
Jesus weeps. He too knows all these things that Mary does,
because HE was the one who told her. Jesus knows that a price must be paid.
That a sacrifice must be given. That a stiff-necked and dead people must
somehow, be brought back to true life, and that good feelings are not enough to
accomplish such a feat.
Our heavenly Father knows that His only-begotten Son has one
single desire: to save His people from their sins. Our heavenly Father knows
His Son cries out “Here am I. Send me, send me”. And the Father grants this request, even though it will mean
the suffering, death, and burial of His dearest treasure.
But Jesus does not weep because Israel is lost for His cross is the
only certain way to correct that. Jesus weeps over Jerusalem , because even if He were to rise
from the dead, they will not turn towards Him as they did of old.
Salvation lies through suffering. Even if they are Jews or
Gentiles, repentance of sins is necessary and is harder than you think.
Repentance means you are laid bare. No more secrets. No more hiding in the
shadows. All your scarlet letters are on display.
This is the confession to your pastor, as we sang about in
our Hymn of the Day. It is an admission of all things. On Sundays, the Divine
Service uses a generic confession that’s easy to do, not because that is good
enough, but because it assumes you have already confessed privately, to your
pastor.
This is the salvation that Mary understands is coming from
Jesus. Her sins were public, so she had more to weep about as her reputation
was ruined. But you have no less to weep about. You are also in the wilderness
of sin. You are also hungry for life, in a world of death. You also struggle
mightily under satan’s thumb and do not win.
Jesus weeps over His city, but He rejoices that He gets to
sacrifice Himself for you. He calls for you to stay close to Him, for the road
to the cross is difficult, nay impossible, for you, yet He will be your ransom.
He will be your rock and castle. He will strive and wrestle on your behalf and
come out victorious.
Though the precious and innocent Blood of God is shed, all
He suffers for your good. Life wins. His innocence bears all your sin. His
sorrow is your joy. His suffering is your comfort and his death is your life.
Because of the cross, weeping has an end. Because of the
cross, tragedy’s days are numbered. Because of the cross, our mourning will
turn to joy when all flesh shall be raised from the dead and you and all
believers in Christ will be given eternal Christ, to dwell in the true House of
God, forever.
We hear Jesus weeping in the Gospel, but He is not weeping
today. He shed His last tear on the cross. You weep today, but Jesus says, “Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted”. You mourn today
because of sin, but you will be comforted.
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