Exalt Jesus Christ in 2023

"I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die." (John 11:25-26a). 

Let's chat about tears. Do you cry? Are you a weeper? Most of us are, Oh we manly men may not want to admit it but most of us have been known to shed a tear or two.  Do we need proof? If so, rent the classic Disney film Old Yeller. For those of us who don't remember the movie, the boy in the story is attacked by wild animals and "Old Yeller" saves the lad from harm. Yet sadly, because of his fight with the wild animals, the dog came down with rabies, and the boy had to shoot his beloved pet. I don't mind admitting it, but the first time I watched the movie as a boy, I cried profusely in front of my brothers as I watched "Old Yeller" expire. Perhaps you did as well? Now if Old Yeller doesn't do it for you, then watch Bambi's mother pass away or see Dumbo separated from his mom.

Simply, the point is this: most of us cry! Most of us weep. In fact, in this world where catastrophe seems to be a constant, where tragedy and terror, sin, sadness, and sorrow are almost customary and commonplace, the sorrowful shedding of tears is familiar and frequent. Almost everyone weeps over a personal sadness. Even Jesus shed tears. In fact centuries before His Bethlehem birth, the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, had by the Holy Spirits' direction, in detail, described the Saviour. He said Jesus would be "despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering." (Isaiah 53:3). Look at Jesus and you will not see a general who sits far removed in a command centre while His troops march off to engage the enemy in battle. He is not a chairman in a walnut-paneled boardroom who dictates commands to His company while the employees on the assembly line sweat to take those commands to completion. No, Jesus became one of us so He might - in our place - fulfill the laws we human beings disobey. He became true Man so that the damnable price that our sins demanded might be paid in full. Because of His sacrifice and resurrection victory, He is able to promise that He is the Resurrection and the Life and those who live and believe in Him will never die. 

Praise the Lord, Christ's nail-pierced hands are stronger than death and because this is so, in heaven every tear will be replaced by laughter and joy in Jesus. Amen!