This document discusses occasions in the New Testament where individuals wept, and the spiritual lessons that can be learned from them. It examines Jesus weeping over Jerusalem because the people had rejected him, Peter weeping bitterly after denying Jesus, and Paul weeping as he thought about those who had disobeyed the gospel. The overall message is that we should weep over our own sins and the state of those who are lost, as it shows we understand our need for repentance and salvation.

1. Read This And Weep
In the New Testament, we find several
occasions where we read of individuals
weeping. In each case, there was a legitimate
cause for sorrow and the weeping was justified.
Those occasions should teach us some
important spiritual lessons.

2. The Sinful Woman. (Luke 7:37, 38)
• On this occasion, Jesus had come into the
house of Simon the Pharisee
• to Simon’s great dismay, began washing the
feet of Jesus with her tears
• All Simon could see was the sinfulness of this
woman and concluded that Jesus could not be
a prophet by the mere fact of Him allowing
her to touch Him!

3. • The thing is, the woman also saw her
sinfulness!
• That is why she was weeping!
• Unlike Simon, she recognized her sinfulness
and she sorrowed greatly over it.
• The great part about this is Jesus forgave her
of her sins (v. 48)!
• Though she came in sorrow, she could leave in
joy!

4. Who are we more like
• Simon, or the woman?
• Do we realize our sinfulness, or do we make
excuses and try to convince others [and
ourselves] we are ‘good people’?
• Paul reminds us that godly sorrow, such as this
woman had, “produces repentance leading to
salvation, not to be regretted”
– 2nd Cor. 7:10
• Have we wept over our sins?

5. Jesus, for the Death of Lazarus. (John
11:35)
• Initially, Jesus was told that Lazarus was sick,
Jesus said it was an occasion for the glory of God
(vv. 2-4)
• While He delayed, Lazarus died Jesus said this
time that it would be a cause for belief (v. 15)
• The disciples did not understand,
• it was going to be an occasion where the power
of Jesus was demonstrated in such a way as to
cause many to believe in Him as the Christ, the
Son of God (v. 45)

6. “He groaned in the spirit and was
troubled” (vv. 32, 33)
• He wept
– But why? Jesus knew Lazarus was going to be
raised, so why weep?
• Jesus wept because He loved Lazarus
• Because of His great love for us. We have a
Savior who sympathizes and who loves us!

7. Jesus, at Jerusalem. (Luke 19:41)
• Jesus approached Jerusalem for what would be one of His
last times to enter,
• “as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it.”
• Why did He weep?
• “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the
things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden
from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your
enemies will build an embankment around you, surround
you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your
children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave
in you one stone upon another, because you did not know
the time of your visitation” (vv. 42-44).

8. • Jesus wept over Jerusalem because the people
of the city had had the opportunity to repent
of their sins and follow the Christ, but they
had rejected Him and any hope of salvation,
and their future was dark.
• He considered their fate and how it all could
have been avoided, and He wept for what
they would face — in both the destruction of
Jerusalem in just a few short years, and in
their final judgment where they would have to
answer for their disobedience.

9. • Jesus wept because He cared about them, and
had done all He could except die for them —
and they would still not follow Him even after
He would do that! Let us not be the cause for
Jesus weeping over us because we, too
rejected Him and, thus, surrendered our only
hope of forgiveness and salvation.

10. Peter, After He Had Denied Jesus.
(Luke 22:62)
• The fact was that Jesus had foretold that Peter
would deny Him, but Peter had vehemently
denied he would deny Jesus (cf. Matt. 26:31-35).
• Peter denied Him three times before the rooster
crowed.
• Jesus looked at Peter and Peter remembered
what Jesus had said, and he then “went out and
wept bitterly.” Who could blame him?

11. • This occasion we probably all can understand
personally, for we all have likely at one time or
another done something to disappoint our Lord
through the pursuit of fleshly desires or by
improper behavior. We all have sinned, but it is
those times where we stop and think about what
we’ve just done and it hits us that we’ve sinned
against the Lord yet again that we are pierced to
the heart with our guilt and we, too, feel like
weeping bitterly. If we have not wept over our
own sins, it is likely that we have never repented
of them, either.

12. Paul, in Thinking About the
Disobedient. (Phlp. 3:17-19)
• Though much of what Paul wrote to the brethren
at Philippi was positive and encouraging, he could
not ignore the fact that so many had, as yet, not
obeyed the gospel.
• “For many walk, of whom I have told you often,
and now tell you even weeping, that they are the
enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is
destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose
glory is in their shame—who set their mind on
earthly things.”

13. • Though he had preached the gospel of Jesus
Christ to them, some had chosen to remain in
their sins and to follow after their fleshly lusts,
making themselves the enemies of Christ
rather than becoming a part of the family of
believers, and this saddened Paul.

14. Let us read and weep
• When we think about the fact the gospel has
been preached and taught to so many, and yet
we see so few who obey and then live faithfully
before God and man
• Are we saddened to remember that the vast
majority of this world is lost?
• Can we say, as did the psalmist, “Rivers of water
run down from my eyes, because men do not keep
Your law” (Psa. 119:136)?