Martha’s Foothold of Faith Mary’s Call From the Savior Jesus Weeps Our Tears in God’s Bottle The God Who Weeps John 11:27-37

Martha’s Foothold of Faith  Martha did not reply directly to the question  Martha gives the basis of her belief – Jesus and his Word  Martha gives a statement of content  Jesus is “the Christ” – Messiah  Jesus is “the Son of God” – deity  Jesus is the one “who should come into the world” – fulfillment of the promise  Martha believed, but she also knew what she believed! God’s Word and the Person of Jesus The God Who Weeps John 11:27-37

Mary’s Call From the Savior  The messenger – Martha  She calls Mary  She calls Mary secretly – personally  She calls Mary on orders from Jesus  Mary’s response  Mary ran to Jesus  Mary fell at Jesus’ feet and worshipped  Mary expressed her faith verbally The God Who Weeps John 11:27-37

Jesus Weeps  Jesus is truly a man – Luke 2:52  Jesus is acquainted with grief – Isaiah 53:3  Jesus is not ashamed of His humanity  Jesus is pleased to identify with us – Moses  Jesus loves – v.36 Humanity! Sorrow! Pride! Identification! Love! Are these characteristics of you? The God Who Weeps John 11:27-37

Our Tears in God’s Bottle  A God who is compassionate vs. apatheia  A God who suffers  Our sorrows are linked to sin  God’s sorrow is because of our sin  God suffering with us does not mean there is a change in God The God Who Weeps John 11:27-37

Our Tears in God’s Bottle  God’s relationship to our tears  God notices our tears – Hezekiah in 2 Kings 20:3-6; Psalm 6:8 The God Who Weeps John 11:27-37

2 Kings 20:3-6 (NASB) 3 “Remember now, O L ORD, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4 Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the L ORD came to him, saying,

2 Kings 20:3-6 (NASB) – contd. 5 “Return and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the L ORD, the God of your father David, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the L ORD. 6 I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.”’”

Psalm 6:8 (NASB) 8 Depart from me, all you who do iniquity, For the L ORD has heard the voice of my weeping.

Our Tears in God’s Bottle  God’s relationship to our tears  God notices our tears – Hezekiah in 2 Kings 20:3-6; Psalm 6:8  God is touched by our tears – Ps. 9:12; 34:15 The God Who Weeps John 11:27-37

Psalm 9:12 (NASB) 12 For He who requires blood remembers them; He does not forget the cry of the afflicted. Psalm 34:15 (NASB) 15 The eyes of the L ORD are toward the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry.

Our Tears in God’s Bottle  God’s relationship to our tears  God notices our tears – Hezekiah in 2 Kings 20:3-6; Psalm 6:8  God is touched by our tears – Ps. 9:12; 34:15  God remembers our tears – Psalm 56:8 The God Who Weeps John 11:27-37

Psalm 56:8 (NASB) 8 You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book?

Our Tears in God’s Bottle  God’s relationship to our tears  God notices our tears – Hezekiah in 2 Kings 20:3-6; Psalm 6:8  God is touched by our tears – Ps. 9:12; 34:15  God remembers our tears – Psalm 56:8  God acts to remove our tears – Psalm 116:8; Psalm 126:5; Isaiah 25:8; Revelation 21:2-4 The God Who Weeps John 11:27-37

Psalm 116:8 (NASB) 8 For You have rescued my soul from death, My eyes from tears, My feet from stumbling. Psalm 126:5 (NASB) 5 Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting. Isaiah 25:8 (NASB) 8 He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord G OD will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the L ORD has spoken.

Revelation 21:1-4 (NASB) 1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.

Revelation 21:1-4 (NASB) – contd. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

The God Who Weeps Application Have you become cold and indifferent to the needs of your community? Are you looking for opportunities to “be Jesus” and to share the truth of the Gospel with the lost? Discipleship is about relationship! Are you loving as Jesus loves? Are you sharing in the sorrows of others in order to bring the Gospel to light?

Exodus 32:31-32 (NASB) 31 Then Moses returned to the L ORD, and said, “Alas, this people has committed a great sin, and they have made a god of gold for themselves. 32 But now, if You will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!”

Romans 9:1-3 (NASB) 1 I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh,