Saturday, February 12, 2005
Luke 23:28 "Stop weeping for me."
HE DRIES OUR TEARS
Looking with pity alone at the pain-wracked Jesus on His way to Calvary means missing the "why" of His suffering. It produces sympathy instead of faith and is finally a denial of the truth of who Jesus is and what He did through His suffering and dying. Such sentimentalism rejects Christ with sympathy -- but rejects Him nonetheless, making Him an object of pity instead of an object of faith.
Jesus doesn't want or need sympathy. He chose to go to the cross in order to redeem this fallen world of sinners by taking on Himself the punishment we had coming. Jesus wanted the people then -- and people today -- to see that clearly -- and to weep tears, not of sympathy, but of sorrow over their own sin.
We need to see Jesus' sufferings clearly but avoid a sentimental view of them. That is, we need to avoid feelings about His pain unrelated to our sins and our repentance. For when a sense of sin is awakened in us by the Spirit of God we mourn, not what Christ has suffered, but what He suffered for.
Jesus doesn't want your pity, He wants you. He wants you not only to anguish over your sins but to come to Him with your burden of guilt so that He can personally assure you of His forgiveness, so that He can lift the weight from your heart and soul.
There IS a time for weeping. There IS a sorrow over sin which God works in us to draw us to Himself, that we might look back and say: "Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the LORD and you forgave the guilt of my sin'" (Ps 32:5).
Jesus, I will ponder now on Thy holy Passion;
With Thy Spirit me endow for such meditation.
Make me see Thy great distress, anguish and affliction,
Bonds and stripes and wretchedness -- and Thy crucifixion.
Yet, O Lord, not thus alone make me see Thy Passion;
But its cause to me make known -- and it termination.
Ah! I also and my sin wrought Thy deep affliction;
This indeed the cause hath been of Thy crucifixion.
If My sins give me alarm and my conscience grieve me,
Let Thy cross my fear disarm, Peace of conscience give me.
Grant that I may trust in Thee and Thy holy Passion
If His Son so loveth me, God must have compassion. 