Grief (vv. 1, 10-11). “Old men must die,” wrote Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “or the world would grow moldy, would only breed the past again.”

Perhaps. But when old people die, those who love them feel the loss deeply. The longer you have someone in your life that you really love, the deeper the roots go into your heart and the more wrenching is the experience of having those roots pulled up. Yes, grief is a normal part of life, and believers don’t grieve “as others who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13 nkjv). But death is still an enemy, and when he slinks in and robs us of someone dear, we feel the pain for a long time.

This is the sixth time we see Joseph weeping, and it wasn’t a quiet affair. He “fell upon” his father as he had done Benjamin and his brothers at their family reunion (Gen. 45:14-15). Semitic peoples aren’t ashamed to express their emotions openly, and Joseph didn’t let his important office smother his true feelings of grief. Later, when the funeral cortege approached Canaan, Joseph led the people in a week of public mourning for Jacob (50:10).

When somebody we love dies, God expects us to weep. That’s why He gave us the ability to shed tears. Normal tears are a part of the healing process (Ps. 30:5), while abnormal grief only keeps the wounds open and prolongs the pain. In my pastoral ministry, I’ve learned that people who suppress their grief are in danger of developing emotional or physical problems that are difficult to heal. The Anglican poet and pastor John Keble called tears “the best gift of God to suffering man.”