Title: Meaning of Tears
Contents
20010325-11 p.m. "The meaning of tears" <Luke 23:26-38>
As most of you may know, there was an explosion in the building right next to our church. The fire broke out last Wednesday around 1:20 am with a loud bang. .... By the way, a couple of hours later, the people speaking the circumstances of the incident were very different. Whether there was one or two explosions, whether there was one or two people who fell, whether the person was a grandmother or an uncle, spoke differently. How much more can the Bible story be misunderstood as it happened in Israel 2000 years ago?
In fact, the content of today's text is very open to misunderstanding. The text records the passage where Jesus struggled the most. He takes up the cross and climbs Golgotha, is crucified, and is harassed. By the way, does the text really focus on and emphasize "Jesus' suffering"? Of course, we know very well that even if we cry in front of the suffering of the Lord, we will not be able to repay it with tears, and we cannot forget the suffering of the Lord even for a moment. However, the question is whether the text has the suffering of Jesus as its central theme. That's another matter.
In fact, the text is written very simply. Verse 33 says, “And they came to a place called the skull, and there they crucified Jesus, and the two evildoers did the same, one on the right and the other on the left.” This is almost all. And rather than the scene where he carries the cross in front of him, there is a scene where Simon of Cyrene carries the cross instead. In fact, like the women in Jerusalem, we prepare to weep and read the text, but in fact, Luke is writing objectively about the death of Jesus to Sir Theophilus.
Rather, Luke introduces "seven different kinds of people." First, there are 1) Simon of Cyrene, who carries the cross of Jesus himself, and 2) many women and crowds weeping after Jesus’ cross. Yes, next 3) two evildoers being executed with Jesus, 4) soldiers nailing Jesus to the cross and dividing his clothes by lot, and 5) just bystanders- these three kinds of people may have been the death of Jesus. They seem to have nothing to do with it directly. However, 6) there are officers who ridicule Jesus, and 7) there are soldiers who make fun of and taunt Jesus. They are doing very bad things. They even test you to jump from there. If you look at it this way, it seems that the 7 types of people are roughly divided into 3 categories. The mourners, the neutrals, the mockers. How is it? There are various reactions to Jesus' death on the cross, and I think that it is similar to today's situation in that there are saints, neutrals, and opponents.
But the important thing is, Jesus says it twice in the text, once to the mourning women in Jerusalem and once to the soldiers who crucified Jesus. These soldiers thought that Jesus was the same as the other two prisoners, so they just did their job. Poor people. So Jesus prayed in verse 34, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” We do not know how many people in the world today do not know Jesus and know that they only need to work hard at what they have to do. These are poor people, the people we should diligently evangelize to.
Other than that, in verses 28-31, the text of Jesus' direct speech appears for a long time, which is what he said to the weeping women of Jerusalem. In a way, they love Jesus more than Simon of Cyrene, who personally carried the cross of Jesus. But what are you talking about? What's the topic? “Do not weep for me, but weep for you and your children.” After that, he says, more troubles will come in the future. The words of Jesus now are, in one word, "Do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children!" This is what Jesus still tells us today. In the face of the suffering and death of Jesus, we have no choice but to weep, and we know well that we cannot pay for everything with tears. But what do those tears mean? "Oh, how sick the Lord must have been." Yes, that's right. But the Lord must have suffered more from his heart than his hands and feet. Why are the women of Jerusalem weeping now? I'm not crying out of hopelessness or because Jesus is pitiful... At least I'm not crying for myself.