Why are there tears at the very threshold of eternal joy? This is the riddle that Revelation hints at, and one that invites deep reflection.

This is a curious conundrum – a riddle which will never be solved in time. Eternity is dawning. Heaven is beginning for the ransomed souls. They are entering paradise where death and suffering will be eclipsed by the everlasting happiness of glory. Yet there are tears, which only God can wipe away. Genuine tears are shed for good reason. They stem from a broken heart and a crushed spirit.

My puzzle is this – As heaven dawns why are God’s people so heart broken and distraught that they need the comfort of the eternal Father’s love? What is behind these tears?

Laying a Foundation

There are two observations that may be helpful in attempting to unravel this conundrum.

A: They are pure tears unalloyed with sin.

This makes them unlike the tears we shed in this broken world. All of our tears are mixed with our sin. Every emotion, every thought, every word and every action possesses sin. Nothing of what we do, feel and say is pure and holy. Our tears are often a mixture of grief and anger, of pain and bitterness.

But these tears shed on the threshold of the New Jerusalem are different. They are shed by glorified eyes. Christ has returned and the great transformation after which we long has happened.

Post resurrection tears are pure.

B: They are the tears of Christ.

Our Lord shed tears at the tomb of Lazarus. This begs the question “Does Jesus still weep?” We know that He feels and tears are a product of our feelings.

Paul said that Jesus Christ is touched by the feeling of our infirmities (Hebrews 4). John taught that when we see Jesus we will be like Him (1st John 3:2).

Putting this teaching together, we come to the conclusion that Christ continues to feel and weep today. This fills me with awe and wonder. The depth of human suffering whether physical, mental or emotional is boundless from our perspective. There is nothing that Christ does not feel. There is no form of pain and sorrow that Jesus does not understand. He has suffered all for us. His spirit is the ultimate spirit of empathy.

Therefore, as we become like Christ we enter into His heart and shed His tears. These tears are the product of our identity with Christ.

Post Resurrection tears are Christlike.

Let us now inquire into why these tears are shed at the very gates of Heaven.

Why are holy people weeping with Christ, for which they must be comforted?

Only the insights of eternity will reveal the ultimate truth But we can apply some Scriptural principles. These be of some assistance as we make our journey through this world.

1: I suggest firstly that God’s people may be weeping on the threshold of glory because of what their sins and have done to Jesus Christ.

As we gaze upon His lovely face we will be taught the full enormity of His suffering.

Even in His glorified state He appears as a lamb freshly slain:

And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

Revelation 5:6

Furthermore Thomas was asked to thrust his hand into the gash in His side and place his fingers into the nail prints:

Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

John 20:27

On the threshold of glory we will have our “Thomas moment”. As the weight of His propitiation and His agonies are brought to bear upon our sanctified minds will we not cry out with tears “My Lord and my God”. As one our favourite hymns expresses it so well; will we not say? – “If ever I loved thee Lord Jesus tis’ now”.

The Practical Lesson for Today

As we are drawn closer to our Saviour, the more His sufferings will touch our spirits and the greater will be our love for Him. Let us pray for grace to love Him more!

2: Secondly, I suggest that Christians weep as heaven dawns because of the souls that have been lost.

This wiping away the tears from the eyes occurs after Judgement Day. The horrors of hearing Jesus say “Depart from me” to a world of sinners lost must surely bring sorrow to the hearts of those so completely conformed to the heart of Jesus Christ (Matthew 25:41).

Does God take pleasure in the damnation of Hell? (Ezekiel 33:11). Will Christ send the ungodly away to their doom without a sense of pain? Justice is satisfied and from that perspective Christ is well pleased. But the personal tragedy of millions of lost souls will not be lost on him.

God is not willing that any should perish and Christ mourned over Jerusalem in their state of careless abandon to sin. (2nd Peter 3:9, Matthew 23:37).

The Practical Lesson for Today

Let us pray for this spirit of Christ to fill our souls as we look out at the hopelessness and wretchedness of this wicked generation. Do we really love the ungodly? What are we doing to win their hearts? Do they see the love of Christ in us? Judgement Day has not yet come. Grace is provided. Opportunity is with us. Don’t leave your weeping until that terrible moment when humanity will suffer the last great separation.

We need the spirit of David Livingstone, the missionary explorer. On one occasion he had been smitten with terrible conviction because an African servant, who had been most helpful to him, died:

“Poor Sehamy, where art thou now? Where lodges thy soul tonight? Didst thou think of what I told thee as thou turnedst from side to side in distress? I could now do anything for thee. I could weep for thy soul. But now nothing can be done. Thy fate is fixed. Oh, am I guilty of the blood of thy soul, my poor dear Sehamy? If so, how shall I look upon thee in the judgement? But I told thee of a Saviour, didst thou think of him, and did he lead thee through the dark valley? Did he comfort thee as he only can. Help me Lord Jesus to be faithful to everyone. Remember me, and let me not be guilty of the blood of souls.”

3: A third suggested reason for these tears is regret that Christ did not receive the best we had to offer in life.

I struggle to accept that Christians will feel guilt on the Judgement Day for sins that were committed in time. As we stand before the Saviour clothed in His garments of righteousness we will be acquitted of all charges. Every sin will be under the blood. The experience of justification will surpass all the assurance we enjoyed in the world.

Judgement Day for the Christian, however, is about more than being justified and acquitted. There is the trial of our works post salvation which Paul refers to:

According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay
than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

1st Corinthians 3:10-15

Will there be anyone with perfect service present? We will all have the mixture of gold, silver, precious stones and wood, hay and stubble. Sadly for some their service will be negligible and they will be saved “so as by fire”.

This testing of our service, our ministries, our opportunities and our responsibilities is unspeakably solemn. How could there not be tears on this great day?

The Practical Lesson for Today

Judgement begins in God’s house according to Peter (1st Peter 4:17). Let us place our service under the light of the Judgement Day and, as far as lies within us, hold nothing back.

The horrific and brutal deaths of the five missionaries to Ecuador on January 8th 1956 sent shock waves through Christian churches the world over. Their story was immortalised in the Christian classic written by one of their widows, Elisabeth Elliot – “Through the Gates of Splendour”. These were five remarkable young men in their own right. Filled with a longing to win the most savage tribe in the deep jungle for Jesus Christ they laid all on the line.

Nate Saint the pilot of the little aircraft they flew into the jungle would leave behind a journal with which he challenged a world of self sufficient materialistic Christians, a challenge from one who wore the martyrs’ crown:

“Yet when the Lord Jesus
asks us to pay the price for world evangelism we often answer without a word. We cannot go. We
say it costs too much.”

Nate Saint

Jim Elliot likewise left us a more much more famous line – can we take it to heart?

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.

Jim Elliot

Several years age, during COVID I did a video talk to the children on these five missionaries who laid down their lives. A brother from Coleraine rang me that day because he had watched the story. He was telling that one of the men who murdered those five missionaries had just lately passed away himself. He lived a long life where Rodger Youderian, Pete Fleming, Nate Saint, Jim Elliot and Ed McCully were cut off young. But – God saved that man’s soul and he died a Christian. Elisabeth Elliot would go in among those savage people and win them by grace. In martyrdom they were triumphant.

What excuses can we offer that hold weight in the light of eternity? What are we clinging to that should be laid at Christ’s feet? Let us give Him everything — for in doing so, we lose nothing and gain everything.

4: A fourth and final suggestion is – perhaps these are tears of joy.

The wonder of God’s grace must be overwhelming for the souls of the redeemed. About to enter the place no death, no sorrow and pain, being forever with the Lord will fill our hearts with such a sense of gratitude. Poor sinners saved by grace being inconsolable – that the grace of God reached me, even me.

The Practical Lesson for Today

Constantly let us look to who we were and how undeserving we are. Then let us look at Christ who has made us rich through His poverty. There is no room for pride in God’s family, especially in heaven!

In Conclusion

On every count our Father God will console our hearts. Leaving Judgement Day behind, entering the gates of the eternal state – earth will be placed behind us forever. Eternity will have dawned and there will no more tears.

And so we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever — tearless, timeless, and eternally His.