The Three Cries of Jesus

When Jesus came into this world, when he invaded planet earth, he came crying…like all babies do. His first cry was the cry of a baby. When he was hungry, he cried. When he was thirsty, he cried. When he needed his diaper changed, he cried. God became a baby. Divinity wrapped in dependence. Heaven held in his mother’s arms. Max Lucado says:

He looks anything but a king. His face is prunish and red. His cry, though strong and healthy, is still the helpless and piercing cry of a baby. And he is absolutely dependent upon Mary for his well-being.

He grew up like other Jewish children. Little is known of his childhood. Luke records a few details…a visit to the temple when he was 12. He begins his ministry, feeds the hungry, heals the sick, preaches the kingdom. Through all of it, he “set his face toward Jerusalem.” Jesus came to die. His second cry was the cry of a criminal.  In despair, he cried, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The sins of the world weighed on his shoulders.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV)

If that is Jesus’s last cry, we are of all people “most to be pitied.” (2 Cor. 15:19) But those weren’t Jesus’s final words. Three days later, he came out of the tomb. Three days later, he arose! And in 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul records Jesus’s 3rd cry:

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. (1 Thessalonians 4:16 ESV)

When Jesus returns, his cry will be the cry of a King.  It will not be the cry of dependence–He depends on no one! It will not be the cry of despair–It is finished! It will be the cry of deliverance!

And so we will always be with the Lord.