HE HURTS WITH ME

Heb.2:17 – Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brothers so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

Suffering has a way of effecting us. The old rock and rollers use to say “you’ve got to pay your dues if you want to sing the blues”. Suffering often brings us to a new place of compassion. If you have gone through a painful experience you tend to have mercy on others facing similar circumstances. Now don’t misunderstand me, I believe sickness is from the devil. At the same time my compassion for people facing sickness and death was effected last year when I went into the hospital. That is what this passage is saying about the humanity of Jesus. He faced human pain and suffering as a man which prepared Him for His ministry as our High Priest. Here is how Barclay describes this.

“Through this identity, Jesus Christ sympathizes with us. He literally feels with us. It is almost impossible to understand another person’s sorrows and sufferings unless we have been through them. A person without a trace of nerves has no conception of the tortures of nervousness. A person who is perfectly physically fit has no conception of the weariness of the person who is easily tired or the suffering of the person who is never free from pain. A person who learns easily often cannot understand why someone who is slow finds things so difficult. A person who has never known sorrow cannot understand the pain at the heart of the person into whose life grief has come. A person who has never loved can never understand either the sudden glory or the aching loneliness in the lover’s heart. Before we can have sympathy, we must go through the same things that the other person has gone through – and that is precisely what Jesus did.”

Having a revelation of the humanity of Christ and His ministry as our Priest is life changing. He is touched by my pain and suffering, He is touched by your pain and suffering. Today He prays for us with powerful compassion in everything that we are going through. This is a great comfort to me and a guarantee that everything is going to be okay.