It was very humbling to have friends cry for me while I was so sick. What is involved in entering the suffering of another? What brings us to that point where we can’t hold back the flood of tears?
Though Jesus knew His Father was going to raise Lazarus from the dead, He wept as He saw Mary and her grieving friends. Though He knew a great miracle was about to take place, He entered the pain of others. Do you think He enters our suffering today? Perhaps a greater question is: Do we choose to enter His?
Only John and a handful of women entered the most intense time of Jesus’ suffering. Though others knew what was happening, only these few actually stood at the cross. How painful it must have been for Mary to see her Son die in such a way, but where else could she go? How horrifying it must have been to see the Master hang on a tree, yet John and the other women did not shrink back. I wonder sometimes if John’s involvement in this part of His Savior’s pain helped transform him from a “son of thunder” to the “apostle of love”.
Will we dare enter the suffering of Jesus today? Be assured He does suffer. “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me… I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”
I want to give you a challenge: Get to know the suffering Church of Jesus Christ. If you are not aware of the persecution of Christians in our world, you may be bothered at first (I was). It is more pleasant not to think about these things, but Jesus invites us to draw close. Most of these brothers and sisters don’t live in our land, but we can enter their suffering… through prayer, through fasting, and through giving. For over thirty years, The Voice of the Martyrs has served the persecuted Church. Visit one of their web sites and ask God to let you embrace the suffering Body of Christ. Jesus wept; will we? www.persecution.com www.linkingup.com
“Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” Hebrews 13:3