Revelation 7:9–17 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Thomas Phaer, the author of the first children’s pediatric book in English, said these words over 500 years ago. Perhaps you have heard this famous quote. He said, “The eyes are the windows of the soul.” He wisely points out that even though our eyes cannot speak, they certainly can show our emotions and feelings, and that is true for any age. Our eyes can show smiles, happiness, love, and compassion. Our eyes can show disbelief, amazement, and focus. Our eyes can convey anger, hatred, disgust, lust, fear, stress, and lying. Perhaps the most precious and most telling of emotions, though, cause tears. Tears are the ultimate expression of the eye. Although they speak no word, a tear drop can express more feeling and emotion than we can ever articulate or write.
Life in this world has often been described as a “vale of tears,” which is an old English way of saying “valley of tears.” It is a way of describing our pilgrimage through this life, through this “vale” or “valley of tears,” as we continue on our way to the eternal joys of heaven. As His saints, people who believe in Jesus, we are not immune to sorrows and hardships. In fact, it seems quite the opposite! Yet, on this All Saints’ Day, we rejoice because even though life in this world is a “vale of tears,” the Day is coming when God will wipe away our tears forever!
There are a lot of sources of tears, aren’t there? It can certainly be physical pain. Having a lot of kids in my life, tears can come when a knee is scraped, finger pinched, or a fall happens that would probably require a surgery for an adult. Big kids cry. Adults do, too. The tears say, “I hurt!” There is of course the tears that come from loss or grief. It hurts when we lose that person we have built our lives, retirement, and home around. It hurts when we lose them “too soon.” Injustice, mistreatment, and persecution cause tears, too, because of the anger, helplessness, and displeasure they can create. Tears accompany loneliness, as it does rejection, where our heart is pushed away, and we are left vulnerable and exposed. Tears can flow from sympathy for others, too, right? It is hard not to cry when others do. Our tears can be a hand on their shoulder, or an unspoken, “I know. I’m sorry you’re going through this.” Tears can also sprout from frustration. The words, “I can’t do this!” “It’s not working!” “Things will never change!” “All is lost and hopeless!” are usually never spoken with a dry eye.
The book of Ezra records the spiritual aspect of tears. When the people of his day were confronted with their sin, they wept bitterly before God and another. They knew they had done wrong, and betrayed God with their actions. If we saw our own sin rightly, and even fully, we, too, would weep greatly and bitterly. Why? We know what Jesus went through for it!
The Bible knows this reality of tears. No other book captures humanity like the Bible does. The Psalms describe the grief of life in vivid terms. Have you ever felt this way, or said something similar? Psalm 31:9 says, “Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eye is wasted from grief; my soul and my body also.” He calls out to God for help. His body, mind, and soul is weary from it all! In Psalm 42:3, we hear, “My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, ‘Where is your God?’” Ever have a night like that? Has your faith ever been attacked in those times of sorrow? The Bible isn’t aloof to what we go through!
But, if we are honest, and really think about things, it seems that even in our happiest moments that there is a tint of sorrow. Author Henri Nouwen notes: “There is a quality of sadness that pervades all the moments of our lives. It seems that there is no such thing as clear-cut pure joy, but that even in the most happy moments of our existence we sense a tinge of sadness. In every satisfaction, there is an awareness of limitations. In every success, there is the fear of jealousy. Behind every smile, there is a tear. In every embrace, there is loneliness. In every friendship, distance. And in all forms of light, there is the knowledge of surrounding darkness. When you touch the hand of a returning friend, you already know that he will have to leave you again….But this intimate experience in which every bit of life is touched by a bit of death can point us beyond the limits of our existence. It can do so by making us look forward in expectation to the day when our hearts will be filled with perfect joy, a joy that no one shall take away from us.” And that day is coming. That’s what John says and proclaims.
God is not blind or deaf to our weeping. When His people were enslaved in Egypt, God says, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings….” When Hagar is banished from Abraham’s household, they are sent out into the desert. To no one’s surprise, their water runs out, and Ishmael is going to die from thirst. Not wanting to see her son die from that, “she lifted up her voice and wept.” Moses tells us, “And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, ‘What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.’” He hears! And He heard the childless Hannah as “she was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly.”
What tears have you shed? Is it tears of pain like Hannah? Tears of desperation like Hagar? Drops of injustice and hopelessness like the Israelites? Tears of repentance like Ezra’s people? Whatever the tears, God has seen them and heard your weeping. Psalm 56:8 gives us this precious words. David says, “You have kept count of my tossings,” God cares for His people and pays attention to their pain, fear, and grief. Although David tossed and turned in the night, stressed with anxiety, God has taken careful note of every single moment. He continues: “[You have] put my tears in your bottle.” God doesn’t forget a single tear shed in grief, pain, loneliness, sympathy, frustration, or repentance. He knows! And he finishes, “Are they not in your book?” They are permanently recorded. God sees and knows. He also acts.
In Jesus, God has entered into our valley of sorrows; He knows sorrow, and learns it early. Soon after Jesus’ birth, Herod would come seeking His life, and many mothers of slaughtered boys would be wailing. He weeps with Mary and Martha over the death of a loved one. He weeps over Jerusalem and its coming divine judgment. He doesn’t want to see them hurt, lost, or forever rejected. He cries out in sorrow over the bitter path of betrayal, abandonment, and death before him on His way to the cross. Jesus knows, and boy does He ever!
But Jesus doesn’t just know. He didn’t simply come to weep with the weeping. He came to take away their tears! To the widow at Nain, Jesus says, “Do not weep,” as He raises her dead son. To those wailing at the death of Jairus’ daughter, He says, “Do not weep, for she is not dead, but sleeping.” At first, Jesus is mocked, but soon He is alive, and the tears are gone. To Mary Magdalene, weeping at the Garden Tomb, Jesus comes to speak her name and to bring her resurrection joy!
This world is a vale of tears, but its tears are temporary; they will not last. That is God’s promise to us in Jesus. A day is coming when John’s vision will be our own. He sees a huge multitude from every nation, tribe, and tongue, all dressed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They are worshipping Christ the Lamb, and there is no hunger, no thirst, and no tears.
What has caused this? The blood of the Lamb, which makes them white as snow. The blood of the Lamb, which has taken away their sin, and paid for it. The blood of the Lamb, which clothes us in Jesus’ righteousness, and allows us to stand before Him and His throne, forever. The blood of the Lamb has made all the difference! Because of Jesus’ triumph over sin and death, pain, grief, injustice, loneliness, rejection, frustration, and sin will be no more! As will tears. In that day, God will wipe away every tear from our eyes, forever.
Wiping away tears is one of the most intimate of all human interactions, isn’t it? It is the very picture of empathy and compassion. The caring one is acknowledging and sharing the hurt and grief behind those tears; Jesus takes it on. But the act of wiping tears isn’t just joining them in grief, it says something. It promises hope. It says, “Don’t cry. Let me get that. You’re not alone. I’m here to help, to shoulder the burden, to mend things. It will be okay, I promise.”
For now, we wait. And often, we may weep. But Jesus promises, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” The day is coming! And as we wait for that day when God will dry our tears, we look for opportunities to dry the tears of others, to extend to them God’s own compassion and hand, to bring them the good news of Jesus. For He sees their tears, carried their sorrows, cleansed them by His blood, and who will one day wipe every tear from their eyes.
“The eyes are the windows to the soul,” aren’t they? The day is coming in Jesus when tears won’t be a window for that, for they will be gone!