Answers to God's Mysteries
By Cicily Sunny
(Continued)

Jesus Cries

We read in the Bible that Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus. Jesus cried a lot in his life, especially when he was alone and praying. After a day's work, when his apostles were resting, Jesus spent time in praying and talking to his Father. He cried about the hardheartedness of people who denied him as God. The thought of losing their souls made him cry. It was for Judas Iscariot that Jesus cried the most in his life. Jesus was a complete man and a complete God. Once it grieved Jesus when he failed in bringing a man to faith, and tears streamed down his face. The apostles wanted to take revenge on his slanderers. Then Jesus said, "It is the quagmire of dead souls that worries me….You shall forgive as I do, but let me weep. I am the man after all! And it grieves me to be betrayed, disowned, and abandoned." (V. 3, Ch. 359, P. 486). 

Answering their questions, Jesus says, "I need not think of what I have to say, but I must think of what I have to do. I am disarmed against the shrewd world, because I do not possess the wickedness of the world or the cunning of Satan. And the world defeats me…. And I am so tired." (P. 489). Talking about his worries, Jesus says, "I am King, victor and God for ever. But now I am the Man. My forehead is already weighed under the torture of my crown. It has always been a torturing crown to be the Man…Thank you, my friends. You have comforted me because this is the advantage of being men: to have a loving mother and loyal friends." (P. 490). 

Jesus cried the most in the last days of his ministry. One day, while the apostles are resting under a group of trees after a day's long walk, Jesus goes to the edge of a hillock and stands there thinking and crying. "Jesus begins to weep without sobbing or making any noise. Tears fill his eyes, then gush forth and stream down his cheeks and fall….Those are the tears of a man who knows that he must weep, all alone, without hoping to be consoled or understood my anybody, tears brought about my grief that cannot be cancelled and must be suffered absolutely." (V. 5, Ch. 587, P. 395).

After the vision of raising Lazarus, Jesus explains to the author the purpose of the miracle and the reason for his tears at the tomb. He says, "I wanted Lazarus to be freed and cleaned in the presence of everybody so that they could see that not only life but also the wholesomeness of the limbs had been restored where previously the ulcerated flesh had spread the germs of death in the blood. When I grant a grace I always give more than what you ask for. I wept before Lazarus' tomb. And many names have been given to my tears. In the meantime you must bear in mind that graces are obtained through grief mixed with unfaltering faith in the Eternal father. I wept not so much because of the loss of my friend and because of the sorrow of the sisters, as because three thought that had always pierced my heart like three sharp nails surfaced then, more live than ever, like depths stirred up. It was the ascertainment of the ruin that Satan had brought to man by deducing him to Evil….It was the persuasion that not even this miracle, worked almost as a sublime corollary to three years of evangelization, would convince the Judaic world of the Truth of which I was the Bearer and that no miracle would in future convert the world to Christ….It was the mental vision of my imminent death. I was God. But I was also man. And to be the redeemer I was to feel the weight of expiation, therefore the horror of death and of such a death. I was a living healthy being who was saying to himself: "I shall soon be dead. I shall be in sepulcher like Lazarus. Soon the most dreadful agony will be my companion. I must die". 

"God's kindness spares you the knowledge of the future. But I was not spared it. Oh! Believe me, you who complain of your destiny. None was sadder than mine because I always clearly foresaw everything that was to happen to me, joined to the poverty, the hardships, the bitterness that accompanied me from by birth to my death. So, do not complain. And hope in me. I give you my peace." (V. 5, Ch. 546, P. 64).

Joseph was a very affectionate stepfather to Jesus, and he cried a lot at the death of Joseph even if he knew that they are going to meet in heaven. Jesus approached Judas several times with tears and hugs, even on the day of betrayal, to convince him of what he was doing and to save his soul. He blessed peace to the humble and grieving mother of Judas during his public life and after his resurrection. When the first nail of crucifixion pierced through his body, he cried aloud. His mother cried aloud with him too. 

Jesus knew how much it grieved his mother. In order to reduce her sorrow, he did not cry aloud when the rest of the nails pierced through his body. Jesus and his mother always shared their agonies to each other. After his mother, it was John who understood the pain in his heart all the time more than any of the apostles. After Jesus was arrested, it was John who went and got Mary and took care of her during the entire crucifixion and afterwards. Before breathing his last, he entrusted John with the task of caring for his mother. Jesus and Mary always tried to hide their sorrows and tears from each other out of love.

Next Topic: Jesus Blesses Bread and wine

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