"Exploring the Humanity of Christ: Understanding His Compassion and Empathy for Us"
As our Lord stands now in the presence of God the Father He is fully human. How often do you think of Jesus this way?
He has lived the lives we live with the doubts, the pain, the suffering but without our sin. Never-the-less even now he intercedes in all the many millions of situations that comes before the throne of grace every moment in prayer or by observation, speaking before the Father on our behalf. Angels are dispatched to our aid.
God hears our moans and groans!
Today you and I will moan and groan even if only silently in our minds. Yet God knows our thoughts and our hearts.
Proverbs 20:27
The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all his innermost parts.
Most if not all of us deep down are overwhelmed by life in some way. We put on a good show for those around us but our hearts are unfolded before our Lord. When he sighs, moans or groans it has deep meaning.
In Mark 7 for example we find deeper meaning and see his humanity as Jesus sighs over the disturbing reality of demonic possession and related disease.
Mark 7:33–35
And taking him aside from the crowd privately, [Jesus] put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.
A life that abides in Christ will bring calm and stability to our human soul. We must not lose sight of holy groans that Christ demonstrated and we also occasionally may utter. This is not the sinful, ungrateful grumbling which Scripture condemns. This picture of Jesus is different than the one we might be prone to imagine. Our perceptions that Jesus had a sinless emotional life should not be superimposed over his Holy emotions as he navigated the world. Though self-assured Jesus experienced what we experience including the sorrow and despair.
Life wears us all down and we know through the seasons of our lives, we learn that to sigh as God intends it is an expression of grief.
We sigh..
Job 3:24
24 For my sighing comes instead of my bread,
and my groanings are poured out like water.
Sorrow..
Psalm 31:10
10 For my life is spent with sorrow,
and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my iniquity,
and my bones waste away.
Divine deliverance..
Psalm 38:9
9 O Lord, all my longing is before you;
my sighing is not hidden from you.
We mourn..
Ezekiel 24:17
7 Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put your shoes on your feet; do not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.”
Jesus sighs even more deeply in Mark 8:12 over the besetting sins of those around him.
Mark 8:12
12 And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.”
At this point the Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” (Mark 8:11–12)
Jesus did not react as we might by exploding with anger, instead “he sighed deeply in his spirit,” nor did he rage. He did not respond with an outraged attack on the Pharisees, but with a composed, condemning, refusal to give the sign for which their sinful selves sought. His deep sigh was an expression of indignation, grief and sorrow.
You see Jesus already knew you and I deeply, he knows our sins even now yet he gladly gave up his human life to transcend that for which he groaned.
The divine curse no longer haunts you and I if we abide in Christ in our entire lives. Each day our Lord is our focus, obedience to him, loving him and talking to him.
Yes we will sigh, moan and groan because to do so is human, at least in this age. Today we will see all of the sin and distressing evil that seems to overtake our world and our lives. We are no innocent bystanders. So when you groan be of good cheer for our Lord has already groaned for all of us!
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