A Bible Reading: Isaiah 53:3-4 (King James Version)
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
A Thought
When we think of Jesus’ death on the cross, we normally think of it in terms of him dying to pay the debt for our sins, and that through his death and resurrection he has defeated both sin and death and bought for us forgiveness and eternal life. And so he has. But he has done more. According to Isaiah 53, which is widely seen as a prophecy of the suffering and death of Jesus, he was acquainted with grief and bore both our griefs and our sorrows on the cross.
In times of grief and of sorrow, I find it immensely helpful to remember that Jesus was acquainted with grief, as he was over the death of his friend, Lazarus (John 11), and also that he bore my griefs on the cross. He understands what we go through and shares with us the pain that grief causes us.
In these difficult times there is a real sense of grief over what we have lost. It may not be the loss of life, but it might be the loss of our freedom, or the loss of social and physical contact, or the loss of access to our churches. For me it is the loss of spending time with my grandchildren.
What are you grieving over today? Can you bring those griefs to Jesus? He understands what you are going through, and he offers to share the burden of the grief with you until you come to the place of resurrection, where all of your sorrows will be turned to joy.
A Prayer
Thank you, Lord Jesus, that in your great compassion, you not only understand my grief, but you also share the burden of the grief on the cross. Give me the faith to walk with you through the grief in the knowledge that resurrection will follow and that my sorrows will be turned to joy.
Amen.