What was it like for Jesus, the Righteous One, to walk in a fallen world where sin infected everything and everyone? What was it like for Jesus, the Lamb of God, to see our fallen hearts and our ability to commit the worst sins against God and one another? What was it like for Jesus, the Bread of Life, to watch those he loves run after broken cisterns? Rightly so is Jesus called the Man of Sorrows. If I, a fallen and sinful person, can still feel so heavily the sorrow that sin brings, I can’t imagine what Jesus endured.

Sometimes we feel the weight of our fallenness and the fallenness of the world more than usual. It’s like our hearts are about to burst under the sadness, the anger, the confusion, and the whys. Where can we find relief? What can we do to stop being paralyzed by sorrow? Sometimes, the step of faith is to just mourn.

Don’t Hold Back Your Tears

When pain and sadness are overwhelming, just stop and mourn. At the purely physical level, God blessed us with crying. It releases endorphins that help ease both physical and emotional pain. That’s common grace.

Mourn with Hope

Crying though can only take us so far. Sometimes it only takes a split-second memory, a song, or a smell to bring us right back where we started. Our mourning must be the expression of the realization of a deeper need and the longing for a greater hope. In other words, we must be aware that whatever we are sad about is only a symptom of a deeper reality: the moment sin entered into the world, a host of brokenness entered with it including death (spiritual and physical) and ultimately separation from God, our creator and sustainer. Only when we see this can we properly mourn because we know what is the ultimate loss. In the same vein, only when we see this can we hope for what can actually make us whole: God himself. Thanks be to God, he has given us such Hope through Jesus Christ!

Behold The Lion and the Lamb!

And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” (Revelation 5:2-5)

John was weeping loudly in Revelation 5:5 because no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. This is what it is to mourn without hope. Who will right all the wrongs in this world? Who will save us and bring us to God? Who will bring ultimate, final, and perfect Justice? Who will satisfy the longings of our hearts that nothing on earth has been able to? Who will make us whole? Who will defeat the oppressive powers of sin and of the evil one forever?

“Worthy are you [The Lamb] to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:9-10)

Jesus Christ, the Lion and the Lamb of God has. By faith in him, we have a hope that transcends this world. He has defeated sin, death and the devil. One day he will right all wrongs, bring perfect justice, wipe away all our tears and create a new heaven and earth where perfect righteousness dwells. We can mourn with hope.

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (Revelation 5:12)