Jesus Can Relate to Life-Changing Loss – Wednesday

Week 1 | Been There

Listen instead of reading

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Ask God what He wants to show you before reading today

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This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. (Hebrews 4:15)

Have you experienced a life-changing loss? Jesus can relate. As Isaiah foretold, Jesus would be “a man of sorrows and acquainted with deepest grief” (Isaiah 53:3).

There’s a story about Jesus’ friend Lazarus who passed away. Jesus travels to visit Lazarus’ sisters, Martha and Mary. The sisters meet with Jesus separately, but they say the same words to Jesus: “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Martha wants to talk to Jesus. She believes Jesus could have saved Lazarus, but now it’s too late. Jesus has a conversation with her, and offers questions to help her process. Mary says the same words, but she doesn’t want a conversation. Instead, she breaks down and cries. And how does Jesus respond? By crying with her. These two sisters had two different responses to loss. Martha verbally processed her feelings and Jesus answered with helpful questions. Mary processed her feelings through tears. Jesus responded by sharing her pain.

In all of this, we see that Jesus felt grief too. How could He not? He’s fully God and fully human. He was getting a front-row seat to one of the most painful human experiences. Jesus can relate to life-changing loss and is ready to respond with empathy. Some of us react to loss with rationalization. Jesus meets us there, ready to guide our process. Others react with high levels of emotion. Jesus meets us there, too, sitting next to us on the floor in tears. We live in a broken world, and bad things happen. Sometimes we don’t know why. But we know that Jesus can relate to our pain—and is present every step of the way.

Prayer for the Day

God what are you  showing me?  What am I going to do about it? 

God help me to see one person that I can serve through a kind word, random act of kindness, or simple gift today?

Make sure you complete the reading or comment today.

Read The New Testament In A Year

4 x 6 Plan | Read: Mark 11:15-33 & 2 Corinthians 2:5-17