Mark 14:34 records Jesus as saying, "My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death." In the original language, "crushed with grief" could also be read as "consumed with sorrow" "greatly grieved" "engulfed with sorrow" or "being sorrowful all-around."
Some of us with heavy hearts may be helped by looking to the Man of Sorrows in Gethsemane. There, we're reminded it's not a sin to be sad about sad things. Christ does not ask those who mourn to pick themselves up and dust themselves off. We have a sympathetic high priest who deals gently with those who feel consumed by grief as he once was. He hates that we suffer under the curse of sin. Hates it so much, in fact, he said, "But this is the very reason I came!" (John 12:27 NLT)
Jesus came to Earth to be crushed by grief, that we would have hope in the mourning.
There is no other god who experientially knows our tears like this. He alone is the one who will bear us up as we cry them, and he alone promises to wipe them away both soon and forever (Psalm 68:19, Revelation 21:4). The Man of Sorrows will not abandon us to your grief because we're struggling to "get over it." The taste of his mercy toward the weeping is unlike any other flavor we'll ever know—its sweetness is precious in bitter times like this.
Some of us with heavy hearts may be helped by looking to the Man of Sorrows in Gethsemane. There, we're reminded it's not a sin to be sad about sad things. Christ does not ask those who mourn to pick themselves up and dust themselves off. We have a sympathetic high priest who deals gently with those who feel consumed by grief as he once was. He hates that we suffer under the curse of sin. Hates it so much, in fact, he said, "But this is the very reason I came!" (John 12:27 NLT)
Jesus came to Earth to be crushed by grief, that we would have hope in the mourning.
There is no other god who experientially knows our tears like this. He alone is the one who will bear us up as we cry them, and he alone promises to wipe them away both soon and forever (Psalm 68:19, Revelation 21:4). The Man of Sorrows will not abandon us to your grief because we're struggling to "get over it." The taste of his mercy toward the weeping is unlike any other flavor we'll ever know—its sweetness is precious in bitter times like this.
