What Pain?

My foot is still so swollen and bruised that you would have a hard time believing me if I told you it didn't hurt. My nephew just came home from work, on the other hand, and revealed how bad his back was hurting from his job all day. But you wouldn't know he was in pain unless he told you. Pain can be pretty invisible, except for the person experiencing it.

There's one kind of pain that none of us will ever have to suffer though. And that is the pain that Jesus felt on the cross. Not the physical pain. Because martyrs down through the ages, and even in some parts of the world today, are called upon to endure unbelievable physical torment.

I'm talking about the emotional and mental pain. To carry the guilt of the entire world could only have been done by the Lord Himself. He died the death we all deserve since sin came to this planet. Imagine the most horrible crime and the guilt that must accompany it, multiplied by every person who has or ever will live. And the Bible says He was quiet about it, "...he opened not his mouth..." Isaiah 53:7. It was miraculous that He carried all that guilt and shame for us, but equally miraculous how He carried it.

I'm not saying that we should never share our suffering with others, to just be quiet about it, but let's remember that there are those around us who are suffering in silence. Let's be especially sensitive to their private pain when possible. And every time we alleviate suffering for anybody, it's as if we are doing it for Jesus, who not only bore our sins, but our pain too. Matthew 25:30.

Give Me the Boot

How could something that big and ugly bring healing to a foot? I wondered as they put a walker boot on today after taking X-rays again. It's supposed to stabilize and protect the foot evidently and I do need that. I'm still not supposed to do actual walking on it though for awhile, and should try to keep any weight off it until they hear back from the radiologist.

I feel like I'm caught in a time tunnel and zapped back six months ago. For three months I put an identical boot on my husband every day. And doctors were telling my husband the very same things in order for his foot to heal faster than it did. We were all so disappointed when he didn't comply with the doctor's instructions and used his foot as he pleased, instead of staying off it. After a few hours, I was dying to take the boot off. Then it dawned on me how it felt for Dean to want to take the boot off as often as he did.

Now I know why Jesus had to come down to this earth to taste the life that we humans have. It's only when you actually have the same experience that you can really know what someone else has gone through. Isaiah 53:11 says, "...by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many...". I've often wondered what knowledge this was, but now I understand. It was knowledge of us. He tasted it all, for His friends.

A Parent Feels the Pain

My daughter experienced the most heartbreaking task a mother must endure today. She had to watch her two little daughters undergo medical procedures that were pretty painful. One needed to get some shots and the other had some dental work done. How painful for a mother to be just inches from her children and yet powerless to keep them from hurting and crying out her name.

I think you know where I'm going with this. Picture Jesus on the cross, suffering tremendously, and crying out for His Father. Imagine how much pain the Father was going through as well. Any parent knows this anguish. How much love both Jesus AND the Father must have for us to willingly sacrifice everything for our salvation at Calvary.

But another thought is how close God was at that time. Just as my daughter was hovering over her little ones doing all she could to comfort them, God comes close to us when we are going through trials. Think of His loving, comforting presence the next time you have any kind of painful experience. He feels it with us, as any good parent would.

The Price of Grace--It Isn't Cheap

Two things stood out for me in my Bible study this morning. First of all, that  there are two kinds of "cheap grace". We ruin the gospel of grace when we think we can add to it by our works, or when we think we can use it as an excuse to sin. I had never thought of legalism as another form of "cheap grace". But the legalist is saying, in essence, that grace is insufficient to save him.

Also it was pointed out to me that Jesus' sufferings were mainly not of a physical nature, although we know the crucifix was a tortuous form of execution. "...with the terrible weight of guilt He bears, He cannot see the Father's reconciling face. The withdrawal of the divine countenance from the Savior in this hour of supreme anguish pierced His heart with a sorrow that can never be fully understood by man. So great was this agony that His physical pain was hardly felt." The Desire of Ages, p. 753.

No portrayal of the Passion story is adequate to convey the extreme mental suffering and guilt that He bore on that cross. The movie screen or the stage doesn't come close to conveying the whole story. The Bible is God's movie script, and the scenes it evokes in our mind are all we need to assimilate the gospel lessons that are taught there. Thank you, Jesus, for The Book.