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.
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