The ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly
The weeping ambassadors
Tell me not of the removal of statesmen, the falling of generals or admirals in warfare, the removal of princes or monarchs from palaces and thrones--all these may take place and leave, comparatively, no chasm in society, when contrasted with the removal of an ambassador for Jesus.
I. WHAT ARE WE TO UNDERSTAND BY AMBASSADORS OF PEACE? An ambassador of peace must come under a threefold description of character.
1. He is a minister sent of God.
2. He is instructed in the terms of peace.
3. He has to negotiate with sinners who are at war with God.
II. THE LAMENTATION PREDICTED CONCERNING THESE AMBASSADORS. They “shall weep bitterly.” Not the departed one, but the surviving ones.
1. Because of the impression which they have of the loss of their brother.
2. For sympathy with the Church.
III. THE LIMITATION OF THEIR SORROW. We are not to sorrow as those who are without hope.
1. The election of grace is sure.
2. The redemption of the Church by Christ Jesus is complete.
3. The succession of the ambassadors of peace remains unbroken. (J. Irons.)
Ministers weeping over non-success
The ambassadors of Hezekiah wept bitterly because their embassy was rejected, and because they were sent back by the haughty and imposing invader without accomplishing their object of peace. And very few form any ideas of the deep anxieties, the soul-travail, the spiritual concern, of God’s ambassadors when they see not, as the result of their embassy, the message they have delivered received by precious souls. (J. Irons.)