The blood of Jesus was shed because He volunteered to be our Savior. The book of Hebrews tells us in chapter 10, verses 5-7 that there was a moment in time when Christ stood before His Father and said: “Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared for me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hadst no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, O God.” The blood was shed then because it was obligatory if He was to fulfill the purpose for which He had come into the world. It was shed reluctantly in that He wished to avoid it if our salvation could be accomplished some other way within the Father’s will. It was done joyfully when He focused on the objective. The same book, Hebrews, in chapter 12 verse 2 says “…Jesus…for the joy set before Him endured the cross.” These contradictory feelings are something with which every woman who has experienced the travail of childbirth can identify.
The tears shed by Jesus are another matter. The flow of tears was released by a heart that was filled with love for us and regret for the pain we inflict upon ourselves. The scriptures tell us that He is a High Priest that can be touched by the feelings of our infirmities. Every grief, every sorrow, every bruise, every wound intended for us by the lash of a malevolent fortune is felt by Him because the prophet said, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5. No wonder He cried!
The tears Christ shed are documented in the Biblical accounts. At the tomb of Lazarus, because of the grief displayed by those who were weeping, Jesus wept. John 11:35. His grief and anguish are depicted in Psalms 22:2 when He says, “O my God, I cry in the daytime…and in the night season, and am not silent.” When you look at His exterior as He went about His earthly ministry, you see a man in control no matter what the circumstance. Within, through prophecy and revelation, we see a heart flooded with tears. He cried in Gethsemene because we read in Hebrews 5:7, “Who in the days of His flesh offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death…” In Luke 13:34 He lamented over Jerusalem, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which kills the prophets and stones those sent unto you, how often would I have gathered thy children together as a hen gathers her children under her wings, and ye would not!” Six chapters later, “…he beheld the city, wept over it.” Luke 19:41.
He could weep over us when we rejected Him. He can weep over a sin-sick world that despises Him and holds Him in low esteem because He knows the horror of everlasting life apart from Him. Can we follow Him in this example?
