Relationships of Compassion and Tears
John 11:28-37
28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”29 And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him.30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?”They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”
What are your ideal relationships with other people? What kind of qualities would you want those around you to have? What expectations do you have from God?
We can find what God is like by looking in the bible, and we can learn some of his qualities from the passage today. Today’s passage is titled “Jesus Weeps,” which means Jesus cries. Some say that tears are an expression of weakness or sensitivity, but Jesus is not doing that here. His tears are a result of his compassion for others. This shows that he really cares and loves others to the point where he can cry and shed tears for us.
This is the kind of God we have. The God we believe in is compassionate towards us. He understands us and shows us mercy and grace.
So this is the kind of God we have, but how should we treat ourselves? When we better understand God and have a proper relationship with him, we can better understand who we are. As our God shows us compassion, it is also important to show compassion to ourselves. Your relationship with yourself mirrors your relationship with God.
If this is the case, how should we have a relationship with ourselves? We should learn to show ourselves grace, mercy, and compassion, while being careful not to over exaggerate our misfortunes, and this is important because this will affect how you treat others. If you are harsh on yourself, how can you be gracious to others? If you call yourself terrible and bad, this does not reflect a good relationship with God.
So show yourself some grace. Acknowledge that you have tried really hard, that the bad times were hard on yourself, that you had some pretty hard times. If you can show compassion to yourself, you can learn to show compassion to others.
Our relationships with God, ourselves, and others are all interconnected. The compassion we receive from God, we can pass on to ourselves and to our other relationships.
So now that we know that compassion is important, how can we show it?
Jesus showed compassion through his tears. In the same way, we can cry for others. If it is difficult for us to cry, it may be because our hearts have hardened over time, or that we may lack compassion for those that are suffering.
So PD encourages us to cry for ourselves, so that we may learn how to cry for others. And it is okay to cry, as many important bible figures have done so like Jesus, Paul, and Jeremiah. It is a good indication that you have love for other people.
To bring back the question from the beginning, what kind of relationships would you want to have? Would you want to experience this compassion from those around you?
And what about with God? Do you experience compassion from him? Let’s transform our understanding of God’s compassion and have it affect our other relationships as well.
Assignment: Have a moment to cry for God, others, and self
Discussion Questions:
What did you learn from this week’s message?
What are some ways you can learn to have more compassion for yourself and for others?
