Holy Week Thoughts on our Savior & Suffering
“Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, ‘Pray that you will not fall into temptation.’ He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, ‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.’ An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” - Luke 22:39-44
Isaiah describes Jesus as “despised and rejected... a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” The passage above tells us that on the night He was arrested, Jesus was in such agony knowing what was to come, He sweated drops of blood as He prayed God’s will to be done. On another occasion, He wept over the news of his good friend Lazarus’ death. Later, on the cross, after being beaten and mocked, He cried out from the depths of desperation to ask why God has forsaken Him.
Christianity differs from all other religions in that God, in the form of Jesus - came down to us, as opposed to us attempting to earn our way to Him. As both fully God and fully man, when Jesus chose to take on our sins and endure God’s wrath on the cross, He humbled Himself to enter into the depths of human suffering - false accusation and taunting, physical pain and torture, loneliness and rejection, and worst of all, separation from God.
While Jesus’ major purpose of the cross and resurrection was defeating sin and the grave to secure our salvation, His willingness to enter into our human suffering also gave us the beautiful gift of His fully empathetic, loving presence in our suffering. It’s one thing to sympathize with someone else’s struggles but completely another level to be able to empathize with what they are going through - to be fully with them, as one who has also been there and understands. This is exactly the kind of transforming love and special relationship Jesus offers us - to enter into our suffering to walk with us as Friend and carry us through as Savior.
If you’ve walked on this earth for long enough, you have - or you will - undoubtedly encounter suffering in one form or another… sickness and death, grief and loss, anxiety and depression, abuse and neglect, pain and loneliness, humiliation and rejection. Whatever we face in this life, we can be assured that Jesus is always with us and will faithfully enter into our suffering and weaknesses with us to carry us through in His strength, even when no one else knows or understands. When we walk with Jesus, we aren’t guaranteed a life without suffering - actually quite the opposite, according to scripture - but we are promised we’ll never walk alone.
This Holy Week, I encourage you to spend some time reflecting on Jesus’ suffering and how His great love for us empowers us to endure the storms of this life. As L.B. Cowman said, “Jesus Christ is no security against storms, but He is a perfect security in storms. He has never promised you an easy passage, only a safe landing.”
What an amazing servant King we have in Jesus! May we ever more learn from His example of humility and may it lead us to love, praise, and serve Him more and more!
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” - Hebrews 4:15
“Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” - Isaiah 53:4-5