Read: Matthew 27:15-23 and Mark 15:6-15
Stinging words, withering looks, and trusted friends who choose to turn their backs on us. Actions are not confined just to middle school classrooms and high school hallways. Perhaps you feel verbally crucified, though you are innocent. Is your reputation ruined unjustly because of others’ envy and resentment? Are you mocked regularly for speaking the truth or doing the right thing? These cause deep heartache! Jesus relates to your pain.
HE CHOSE TO EXPERIENCE MY PAIN
King Jesus did not live in a palace, pampered, rich, and insulated from life. He chose to experience pain. Religious leaders regularly questioned and assaulted Jesus with words. One (crooked) leadership team tried to stone Him for speaking the truth (John 10:19-39). Several of Christ’s best friends fell asleep even though Jesus was under so much stress that He sweated blood. Two of his closest friends betrayed him. Judas was the first to turn his back on Him. Peter later betrayed Him three times in one day. The crowd of enthusiastic supporters cheered for Him in Jerusalem, but three days later, chanted for His death. Jesus, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:1-6), can relate to our pain.
BOTH PRESENT AND FUTURE HOPE
The Lord chooses to enter our pain and experience it with us. Author Ann Voskamp tells us that when we hurt, Jesus is right there with us, feeling what we feel, ministering to us with comfort and hope. “He knows you need one arm stretched out, pointing to the hope beyond, and He knows you need another arm wrapping ‘round you, passionately holding on to you…Jesus passionately weeps for all the griefs of life here and now…[providing] both a future hope and a present, intimate comfort right where you are.” WOW! That’s our God!!
HE HEARS MY CRY!
How are you hurting, feeling betrayed by life? Open your heart to His comfort. He will faithfully weep with you and lift you up with a deep soul hope that only He can provide. Join the Psalmist: “I relied completely on the Lord, and he turned toward me and heard my cry for help. He lifted me out of the watery pit, out of the slimy mud. He placed my feet on a rock and gave me secure footing. He gave me reason to sing a new song, praising our God. May many see what God has done, so that they might swear allegiance to him and trust in the Lord” (Psalm 40:1-3).
What painful circumstance or relationship are you currently experiencing? Take time to invite Jesus into your pain and pour your heart out to Him. What might Jesus’ response to you be as He identifies with your pain?