sileby Pastor Douglas Brauner

In a World Full of Tears, a Baby Is Born

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“Lord, my heart is not proud;
    my eyes are not haughty.
I don’t concern myself with matters too great
    or too awesome for me to grasp.
Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself,
    like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk.
    Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me.”
Psalm 131:1-2 New Living Translation

Did Jesus cry after his birth?

The Bible doesn’t address this issue and in the scope of eternity and our faith, the question is not important. We all might have opinions on the subject and get lost in the details that the Bible has no interest in addressing.

Yet, the question does relate to our desire that Jesus be human. To be human means crying after the trauma of birth, of lungs filling with air for the first time in a person’s journey through life. Jesus, being fully human, needed air to fill his lungs.

So, we cry when we are born, and we cry when we are dying. We cry when we stub our toe, and we cry when our toddler falls. We cry when we say hello, we cry when we say goodbye. We cry on Christmas Eve when celebrating Jesus’ birth for the first time without a loved one near.

Did Jesus cry?

“Then Jesus wept.”
John 11:35 (NLT)

In the midst of tears, the psalmist quiets his soul. His trust is in the Lord, the one who knows all things, even the tears that he shed. Tonight, we stand once again before a manger, tears and all, and experience the gift of love, forgiveness, power, and grace. This baby was born in a world of tears to wipe them away.

Silent Night, Holy Night
All is calm, all is bright
‘Round yon Virgin Mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace

Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado