GROWING AS A DISCIPLE - THE EMPATHY OF JESUS (2 OF 3)

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In all our distress he too is distressed (Isa 63:9).  

Jesus suffered injustice; all his human rights were ignored. "For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust so that he might bring us to God" (1Pt 3:18 NASB).

Jesus wept and pleaded with God to be spared the cross. "While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers [though, for your sake and mine, God could not grant his request]." (Heb 5:7 NLT).

Jesus became so dispirited he wanted to die. "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow, deeply grieved to the point of death (Mt 26:38 NIV). "My heart is like wax; it is melted within me" (Ps 22:14 NASB). "Save me, O God, for the waters have threatened my life … a flood overflows me. I am weary with my crying … Those who hate me without cause are more than the hairs of my head" (Ps 69:1-4 NASB).

Jesus experienced greater fear than any other person could ever face. He looked into the cup of God's wrath and it literally frightened him to death. "When they reached a place called Gethsemane … horror and anguish overwhelmed him, and he said to them, 'My heart is ready to break with grief; stop here and stay awake.' Then he went on a little farther, threw himself on the ground, and prayed … 'Abba Father … all things are possible to you; take this cup away from me. Yet not my will but yours.'" "And being in agony he was praying very fervently; and his sweat became like drops of blood falling down upon the ground. He came back and found them sleeping" (Lk 22:44 NASB; Mk 14:32-37 REB). (Imagine how the Father's heart must have been at breaking point listening to this cry from his only Son!)

Jesus was let down by his closest friends. [At his arrest] "all the disciples deserted him and fled" (Mt 26:56 NLT).

Jesus suffered humiliating physical abuse. "They spat in his face and beat him with their fists; and others slapped him" (Mt 26:67 NASB).

Jesus suffered ridicule. "And the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him and beating him" (Lk 22:63 NASB).

Jesus was hated and the subject of jealousy. [Pilate knew that] "it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him" (Mk 15:10 NIV).

Jesus' heart was broken and there was no one to comfort him. "Reproach has broken my heart, and I am so sick. And I looked for sympathy, but there was none, and for comforters but I found none" (Ps 69:20 NASB).

Jesus was tempted to doubt God's love for him. "Those who passed by hurled insults at him … In the same way the … elders mocked him … 'He trusts in God let him deliver him now, if he takes pleasure in him'" (Mt 27:39-43 NASB).

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