He Understands Our Weakness

”At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”“ ‭‭Mark‬ ‭15‬:‭34‬ ‭‬‬

I woke up this morning with this verse on my heart. I miss my earthly parents greatly at this time of year. Both my parents died in the month of March and my mother died on Holy Friday. Jesus, in this moment, learned two things He would have never otherwise have been able of which to say He could relate to us as Hebrews tells us He can.

”Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.“. Hebrews‬ ‭4‬:‭14‬-‭16‬ ‭‬

The sin He took upon Him and became completely separated Him from the Father. In the moment He understood two weaknesses we experience.

1) What it was like to grieve the loss of someone. When Lazarus died, He knew He would raise him from the dead. I personally believe He wept because they questioned His integrity, His love – who He was. Not as Satan had questioned, Satan’s contempt for Jesus was clear but His friends that knew Him well questioning it takes the pain to another level.

I also know Jesus grieved over Jerusalem. There is something different about a personal loss than the sorrow over a nation. Jesus had to experience that complete loss to know what we experience so He can comfort as we need comfort.

The loss of his Father’s presence had to be felt so He could experience complete loss of someone He loved. Since He had no children or spouse, and He would know He had assurance of seeing Mary again in Heaven. We can make an assumption that Joseph died, but again he would have been a stepfather to Jesus. The only loss that could give Him that same grief we experience is complete loss of His Father.

2) Loneliness – Although Jesus often withdrew to a quiet place to pray alone, up to this moment He was never truly alone. His Father was always present. In this moment of complete separation, surrounded by this who mourned Him, scorned Him and crucified Him, He was utterly alone. He learned what it was like to feel completely alone in the world.

When the Bible tells us that we have a High Priest, Jesus who can sympathize with all our weakness, we have to take that at face value. It is a truth. This morning, I felt that truth as I woke and this Scripture came to my mind in a way that only God could help me see.

Lord, I thank You that You sent Jesus to earth for our salvation. He was fully man and fully God and in order to experience everything we did, He had to know what life was like without out You, thank You that because of His sacrifice I will never have to experience that again. Thank You that He overcame death and the grave!