Rejoicing with Those Who Rejoice and Weeping with Those Who Weep
Rejoicing with Those Who Rejoice and Weeping with Those Who Weep
“Rejoicing with those who rejoice, and weeping with those who weep” (Romans 12:15).
It is a commandment that falls within the scope of emotional participation.
For God does not want a person to be detached in feelings and emotions from the surrounding environment and from the society in which he lives. Rather, He wants us to sense people’s feelings, feel what they feel, and respond to them, considering that we are all members of one body. As the Apostle said: “…that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Corinthians 12:25–26).
If a thorn enters a person’s foot, the head or the hand cannot say, “What does that matter to me?” Rather, the whole person suffers. On the other hand, if a person drinks something refreshing, the whole body is refreshed. By this example the Lord wants us all to be of one feeling, considering that we are members of one body.
As long as we live in society, we should not isolate ourselves, but open up to that society and feel its emotions: “Rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep” (Romans 12:15).
The Lord Christ Himself was like this during His incarnation on earth.
He attended the wedding at Cana of Galilee and shared people’s joy, and even helped to complete it (John 2). When Lazarus died, He went with His disciples to console them, and He did more than that, for it was said of Him on that occasion: “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Nor did He stop there, but He raised Lazarus from the dead. He was moved by the weeping of the widow of Nain over the death of her only son, and it was said: “When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’” Then He raised her son and “gave him to his mother” (Luke 7:13, 15).
The Lord was full of sensitive feelings toward people.
“He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil” (Acts 10:38). “But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). He had compassion on everyone, even on the sinful woman caught in the very act, saving her from those who wanted to stone her, and saying to them: “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first” (John 8:7).
When Levi the tax collector made a feast, the Lord attended and reclined with him and with tax collectors and sinners. When the Pharisees criticized this and said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” the Lord answered them: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick… I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Matthew 9:11–13).
Likewise, He entered the house of Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, rejoiced in his repentance, and said: “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham” (Luke 19:9). He did not care about the murmuring of the Jews because He entered the house of a sinful man.
He rejoiced in the repentance of sinners and shared their joy. He even said: “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7).
Heaven itself follows the principle of “rejoicing with those who rejoice.” If you rejoice in your repentance, do not think that you rejoice alone, for the angels of God in heaven rejoice with you.
Just as the Lord rejoiced with them, it was also said of Him that He wept over Jerusalem: “Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying… the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you… and level you, and your children within you… because you did not know the time of your visitation” (Luke 19:41–44).
Here the Lord’s feeling is more than merely “weeping with those who weep,” for He wept for them even before they wept themselves.
We believe not only in a God who is in heaven, but in a God who also walks with us on earth and shares our feelings in joy and sorrow. Did not the Scripture say: “His name shall be called Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us” (Matthew 1:23)? And He Himself said: “And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). And it was said of His feelings toward His people: “In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them” (Isaiah 63:9).
How amazing is this emotional interaction between God and His people.
When He found the lost sheep, it was said that He “lays it on His shoulders, rejoicing,” and called together His friends and neighbors, saying: “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!” (Luke 15:5–6).
Truly, my brother, when you repent, you do not rejoice alone in your repentance, but you create joy in heaven and on earth. God rejoices in you, His angels rejoice, the spirits of the saints rejoice, and all the members of the Church rejoice, according to the divine biblical principle: “Rejoicing with those who rejoice.”
In the Book of Revelation, when the martyrs under the altar cried out to God, He said to them that they should “rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed” (Revelation 6:9–11). It is as though He says to them: wait a little, and then we shall hold the great celebration after your brethren complete their struggle on earth—a celebration in which angels, the spirits of the saints who have departed, and those who will come afterward from the earth will all participate. All will rejoice with them—“rejoicing with those who rejoice.”
In the parable of the prodigal son, we see a general joy that was made for his return. His father said to his servants: “Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” (Luke 15:22–24). All rejoiced together. The only one who did not rejoice with those who rejoiced was the elder brother, who refused to enter the house. His father went out to him and said: “It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found” (Luke 15:32).
Beware, then, of thinking that you are an isolated island in the ocean, disconnected from other lands and countries. Do not separate yourself from sharing in people’s joys and sorrows, for they are flesh of your flesh and bone of your bones. If you do not share their feelings, you may be withdrawn into yourself, or unloving toward others, or selfish, thinking only of yourself—and far be it from you to be so. For if you live in this way, what will people’s feelings be toward you, and what will their reactions be?
How beautiful is the story of the Good Samaritan presented to us by the Lord. This Samaritan saw a wounded man lying on the road between life and death, and “when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds… and set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him” (Luke 10:33–34). He spent his own money on him, while a priest and a Levite saw him and passed by without doing anything.
Here the phrase “weeping with those who weep” was translated by the Good Samaritan into a practical translation that turned into compassion, tenderness, rescue, and giving.
It is not enough to weep with those who weep without doing anything to bring consolation to their hearts. Do not let your relationship with people be mere verbal courtesies or visits to fulfill a duty. Rather, your feelings must be real and from the whole heart, and according to your ability, you should do in practice what your conscience dictates.
One of the famous stories in this field is the story of Job the righteous and his friends. When his three friends heard of the trial that had come upon him, they came to him “to mourn with him and to comfort him.” They “lifted their voices and wept, and each one tore his robe and sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven. So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great” (Job 2:11–13).
Did the phrase “weeping with those who weep” apply to them, or was what they did merely a temporary reaction to what they saw of Job’s pitiful condition? We see that later they entered into a dialogue with him that wounded his feelings to the extreme, accused him unjustly, and added psychological pain to his physical pain. So Job said to them: “Miserable comforters are you all!” (Job 16:2), and “How long will you torment my soul, and break me in pieces with words? These ten times you have reproached me” (Job 19:2–3).
This was not “weeping with those who weep,” unlike what happened with his companions after the trial. The Scripture says: “Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had been his acquaintances before, came to him and ate food with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him… and each one gave him a piece of silver and each a ring of gold” (Job 42:11).
Here there is sincere love and practical emotional participation—a deep application of the Apostle’s commandment within the family circle.
If a son succeeds with excellence, the whole family finds itself in true joy, almost unable to contain itself, and likewise if he obtains a high position or a promotion. The same feelings occur when a daughter marries an honorable marriage that brings her happiness. Everyone rejoices from the depth of the heart, beyond mere words—true, natural feelings.
Relatives and friends also share by offering gifts, words of congratulations, or participation in celebrations for such joyful occasions. The same emotional participation appears in times of sorrow, distress, illness, problems, or disasters, in obedience to the commandment “weeping with those who weep.”
There are people who do not stop at showing feelings during a problem, but contribute according to their ability to solving it, for weeping alone does not solve problems. An example of this is Abraham, the father of the fathers: “Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants” (Genesis 14:14). He did not stop at weeping over Lot’s captivity, but fought until he rescued him from captivity, he and all his household.
Our good God is the One who gave us the perfect example in such matters, as He did with the people enslaved by Pharaoh. In this He said to His servant Moses: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them” (Exodus 3:7–8). And so it was: He delivered them with a mighty hand and wondrous miracles. It was not mere compassion, but a wondrous work of salvation.
There is a bad kind of people who are indifferent to the pains of others. Worse still are those who gloat over others in their pain. Such a person does not weep with those who weep; on the contrary, he rejoices at their weeping. About this the Scripture says: “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; lest the Lord see it, and it displease Him” (Proverbs 24:17–18).
A person who gloats over others is a person whose heart is full of hatred, and how easy it is for what befell those he mocks to befall him as well.
We will suffice with this for now, and the subject has more to come…
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