LISTEN ONLINE“Tis a fearful thing / to love what death can touch.” That line starts a poem written more than a thousand years ago by the Jewish poet Judah Halevi, translated in the twentieth century. The poet clarifies what’s behind the fear: “to love . . . / And oh, to lose.”
In Genesis, an outpouring of emotion occurred when Abraham lost Sarah in death. “Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her” (23:2). The chapter unfolds the beautiful, grief-heavy story of the loss of one of Scripture’s most memorable characters: Sarah, the faithful wife of Abraham, that old woman who laughed at the news she’d be a mother (18:11-12) but cried in pain as Isaac made his way into this world.
We make much of that crisp, humanity-rich verse in John’s gospel: “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). The Messiah’s tears at the tomb of Lazarus emphasised Jesus’ loss. To love is indeed a fearful thing. The poet Halevi calls it “a thing for fools”, yet he follows by also naming it “a holy thing”, which it is, especially for those whose faith is “hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).
We love and lose everything from spouses to children to parents to friends to pets, and weeping with “painful joy” is oh so human. Yet for the believer in Jesus, our weeping only lasts for the proverbial night. As David wrote, “Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). Our Father hasn’t left us bereft of hope.