Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
– Revelation 21:1-5
Scripture does not shy away from depicting the difficult realities of this world. It narrates violence and war, sexual abuse, and corrupt rulers. These are some of the darkest examples, but perhaps a less noticeable theme in Scripture is the theme of tears.
Weeping is a regular reminder that something is not right with the world we find ourselves in. The authors of Scripture make it a point to say when someone is crying: from the psalmist saying God keeps his tears in a bottle (Ps. 56) to Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, to a woman washing Jesus’ feet with her tears (Luke 7), to Jesus weeping over Lazarus and in the garden (Jn. 11; Heb. 5:7). Paul’s ministry frequently involved tears (Acts 20: 19, 31; 2 Cor. 2:4; Phil. 3:8; 2 Tim. 1:4). That’s because tears communicate something that usually doesn’t need explanation: there is sorrow in this world, a lot of it.
Yet, God is still doing a redemptive work through our tears. In Jesus, God shows his solidarity with us in sorrow by paying attention to our tears and weeping with us. God similarly calls us to take up the ministry of tears (Rom. 12:15). Then finally, here in Revelation, he will wipe every tear away. This depicts God’s intimate involvement in our pain and his resolve to finally end it forever.
Revelation 21:4 is a hopeful and oft-quoted verse: “And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will not be any longer, neither will mourning or wailing or pain be any longer. The former things have passed away.” The specific word “tears” conveys an image to us. In our mind’s eye, we may see a saddened and scrunched face, a downcast demeanor, eyes blurry and face splotched. Tears usually speak of sadness. They let others know we are in pain without us having to say a word. Through tears, our bodies speak first—they communicate the state of our hearts.
Not only do we see tears in our time, but we hear mourning and wailing. The world’s pressure builds inside of us until it must finally be freed. Mourning is the release valve of our grief; wailing, the animation of our sadness. Tears and weeping are closely associated with death. The author of Lamentations writes, “My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment within; my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city” (Lam. 2:11). When death entered the world, he brought weeping and mourning with him.
Yet, death is not the only cause of tears. Pain of any kind, even a stubbed toe, can bring tears to our eyes. Even the small pains testify to a problem we long to be resolved. For now, we continue to live in the tension. The new heavens and new earth are a world we await and a place we cannot yet go. Only God can take us there. The scope of the malady is all-encompassing. It is beyond us—our lives have taught us only God himself can cure it.
Tears are a grace in this in-between age. They’re an embodied way Living Water pours through us to bring healing, to ourselves and to others. They activate chemicals in our bodies that calm us down and bring relief. They remind others how they’re seen and cared for. They steady our nervous systems. This expression of pain is simultaneously a means of healing.
This passage in Revelation is a comfort and a hope. It vindicates our sadness in the present time: in this life, there is pain worth our weeping. Where there is pain, we will mourn and where there is death we will wail. And rightfully so. God’s future arrival doesn’t mean there’s nothing to cry about in the present. All things are being made new, but we’re not there just yet. So we weep with hope that this day is coming. This will be a day without the paradoxical tension we’ve lived in for so long, because “the former things [will] have passed away” (21:4). The “already” will overcome the “not yet.” On this morning the mourning will cease. The old order will not be “any longer” because the new has come.
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