"DOES GOD REALLY CRY?"

A few days ago I saw that one of the cable channels was showing "The Passion of the Christ" and since I haven't seen it since its theater debut I decided to watch it again. I well remember the mood and atmosphere in that packed Dallas, Tx theater on a Saturday afternoon when the Rose and I went with Mike and Annette to see it.
After the movie was over no one moved, at all, for what seemed like ten or so minutes. We all just sat there in stunned awe of what we had just experienced. So, when I turned to the cable channel to see it again I found it was at the part where a bloody and beaten Jesus is stumbling toward Golgotha dragging the cross. I was so emotionally stricken all over again that I just couldn't watch it. So, I changed the channel.
Yahweh couldn't watch it either. He had to turn away too because upon that bloodied face and back he had placed all our transgressions, our sins, our obstinate refusal to hear his voice and trust his word.
Today much of the world is celebrating that act of God the Father, specifically what happened next, Jesus' Resurrection. The Holy Spirit also celebrates that event in the revelation he has given us from God, the Holy Scriptures. One in twenty five New Testament verses speaks in one way or another about Jesus' death and resurrection. That's a lot for God the Father to say to us about his unique Son.
I am awed into submission by these words from a still unknown inspired author -

"During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with LOUD cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him." Hebrews 5:7-9 NIV

These words seem to me to imply that Jesus wept more often than John 11:35 at the tomb of Lazarus. He knew why he was here and what was going to happen. He probably knew it as a young boy. How does one live 20 or so years with that hanging over his head every day and night. He probably didn't know exactly when it would occur but his commitment to the will of his Father made the 'when' unimportant. But, those moments when he was alone, with his Father, he often wept, bitterly, loudly.
Why would God cry? He wept over the city of Jerusalem (Matthew 23:37-39) when Jesus entered it for the last time and saw how little difference his teaching had made in the everyday life of its thousands who were totally unaware of their destiny. He wept at the tomb of his dear friend Lazarus when he saw how deeply that loss affected Mary and Martha, Lazarus' sisters. According to Mark 15:34, Jesus "cried out in a loud voice, My God, My God why have you forsaken me?" What a terrible feeling that must have been. I simply cannot fathom it - ANY OF IT!
Does God really cry? Most assuredly he does. He cries for the same thing today that he did in Jesus earthly ministry - the willful, self serving way that men IGNORE him and their ultimate destiny. In just the 27 books of the New Testament there are 264 billboards warning men about that eternal destiny - but we seem to drive by them without really seeing or caring because they are just part of the landscape that we overlook every day.
Do yourself and those you love a huge favor - "WAKE UP, O SLEEPER, RISE FROM THE DEAD AND CHRIST WILL SHINE ON YOU. Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." Eph 5:14-17
God always knew there would be GOOD NEWS that would cancel the bad. So did Jesus! But God also knows the hearts of men & women, young and old, we listen to and follow the leading of Satan much more quickly and easily because Satan knows how to appeal to what WE want.