Guest Speaker 8-2-09
How Much Did Jesus Hurt
- Luke 19:41
Audio Sermon
How Much Did Jesus Hurt?
by George Boose
“As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city,
He wept over it” (Luke 19:41)
When we say, “That hurt!” just what do we mean? I know it sounds
like an obvious question, but think about it. Do we mean that we’re
feeling actual physical discomfort or pain; or does it mean that we’re
suffering from an emotional upset? – a hurt nevertheless. It is
interesting how in English, and I think it’s true in other languages
also, that we use the same words for physical pain and for emotional
distress. We use: painful, anguish, suffer, misery, distress, ache,
hurt, wound. All good words, all descriptive words – but all perfectly
interchangeable whether the “hurt” is physical or emotional. I wonder
why that is. Probably because it’s just as difficult, sometimes harder,
to bear an emotional hurt (a nasty remark, the loss of a loved one,
betrayal by a friend) as it is to undergo physical pain.
Probably the anecdote we hear most often to describe this phenomena
is the story of an angry father marching his son off to the woodshed.
What does the father say? “Son, this is going to hurt me more than you.”
We chuckle at that – but it’s true. The loving father, seeing his child
crying and hurting, is hurting even more so in his own heart.
When Jesus knew that the time had come for him to face the cross He
retreated to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away
unless I drink it, may your will be done” (Matthew 26:42). We
know God’s answer. Jesus was not allowed to avoid the cross. During the
trial, the flogging, the crucifixion, I’m certain the agony felt in the
safety of heaven was as great as the horrible physical torment Jesus
experienced here on earth. Did God cry? Consider this – “From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over
all the land” (Matthew 27:45)… the curtain
of the temple was torn in two… The earth
shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open…” (Matthew
27:51-52). I don’t know if God cried. Surely God must have trembled in
anguish.
We often face hurts in this life – physical, emotional and sometimes
both at once. It’s how we deal with the hurts that matters. There’s an
old story of a farmer who owned a donkey. He loved his donkey. but one
day the donkey fell into a deep well. When the donkey hit the bottom he
was bruised, battered and frightened. He was hurting every way possible.
So the donkey immediately began to let out a piteous howl. This went on
for hours as the farmer tried to think of some way to rescue his donkey.
Reluctantly he decided there was no good solution, so he requested all
his neighbors to come over and bring their shovels. The farmer
determined the only humane thing to do was to shovel dirt into the well,
bury the donkey alive and put him out of his misery. Everyone began to
shovel dirt into the well and the donkey cried even louder. But soon he
quieted down. After a few minutes the men stopped their shoveling and
gazed down the well. They were amazed at what they saw. Every time a
shovelful of dirt went down, the donkey would shake it off his back and
step on it. As they continued to shovel, the donkey continued to step on
the dirt, slowly raising upward. After many more shovelfuls cascaded
down, the dirt finally reached up to the level of the top of the well
and the donkey just stepped over and out.
I think we can all relate to that story. When we’re hurting – sick –
ill-treated – neglected – when it seems like the whole world has just
thrown us down a well and is shoveling in the dirt to cover us up –
that’s the time to shake it off, step upward, rise above it, and crawl
out of that pit. Our ability to do that is going to depend mostly on our
attitude.
The importance of having a good, hopeful attitude can’t be
over-emphasized. It reminds me of another story about a busy father who
had just arrived home after a tough day on the job. He wanted to sit
down, take a load off his feet, and forget his troubles by reading the
newspaper. But as soon as he was located in his special chair, feet
propped up and absorbed in his favorite section of the paper, his little
daughter came running in to talk. Little girls love to talk to their
fathers. And this father loved his daughter – but he didn’t feel like
talking right then. There was no quieting her. Finally, in frustration,
the man picked up a magazine that was lying nearby and removed a page
that had a map of the world printed on it. He tore the page into many
pieces, like a jigsaw puzzle, and told his daughter to go into the other
room and put it back together. At last, he thought, peace and quiet.
Almost instantly it seemed the little girl reappeared yelling, “I did
it, I put it together like you said.” The father was stunned. His
daughter wasn’t even old enough to have studied any geography in school.
He asked her how she could have possibly put the map together so
quickly. The little girl happily replied, “Oh Daddy, on the back of the
map was a picture of Jesus. I just turned the pieces over, and when I
got Jesus in His place the world came out all right.” When we’re hurting
– and I imagine the little girl was hurting from rejection when she left
the room – if we’ll just make sure that Jesus is in His rightful place,
the rest of our world will come out OK. That little girl displayed a
“Jesus attitude.” That’s what we need – a Jesus attitude to keep Him in
the right place in our lives.
We know that God sent His only son – Jesus – to earth as a human
being to live just like the rest of us. “The Word became flesh and made
His dwelling among us” (John 1:14). Jesus ate and slept just like we do.
He was tempted in every way that we are tempted. And He suffered pain –
both emotional and physical – just like we do.
How did Jesus react to being a human being? In many ways – just like
we do. In the 11th chapter of the Gospel of John we find the story of
when Lazarus, a close friend of Jesus, died. Let’s pick up the story
beginning with the 32nd verse – “When Mary reached
the place where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell at his feet and said, ‘Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.’ When Jesus
saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping,
He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled” (John 11:32-33). He
was deeply moved and troubled by the sorrow. The King James Version
describes it as “He groaned in the spirit.”
Obviously, Christ was deeply, emotionally pained. And how did He react?
Much like we do, Verse 35 simply records, “Jesus
wept." Jesus felt emotional pain.
Let’s consider another occasion when Jesus was hurting emotionally.
On what we now call Palm Sunday, Jesus made a triumphal entry into
Jerusalem. His popularity was at its zenith. The crowds were cheering.
What happened? We read in the account by Luke, “As
He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it” (Luke
19:41). It wasn’t tears of happiness that Jesus shed, because as He
peered out over that great city He prophesied, “The
days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment
against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will
dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They
will not leave one stone on another because he did not recognize the
time of God’s coming to you” (Luke 19:43-44). Jesus foresaw the
forthcoming complete, utter and horrible destruction of Jerusalem. It
pained Him in His heart. Jesus cried out of compassion for what would
happen to the people of Jerusalem. He cried because despite the gala
reception awaiting Him and the waving of palm branches, He knew His
message had been largely rejected.
Contemplating the destruction of Jerusalem, the “Liberty Bible Commentary” observes, “What was true of this city will also be true of each
individual who rejects Christ. Jesus cared for them and He cares for men
today.” That is so very true. Jesus cried for a lost city. Jesus
still cries for lost sinners today.
Jesus in His lifetime felt much emotional pain. There were times when
the pain was so great that He cried. But we are more aware of the
unspeakable physical pain Jesus suffered on the day that He was
crucified. He was beaten, flogged and scourged, slapped and struck over
and over in the face. Spit upon and cursed. Repeatedly hit on the head
by a large stick or staff. A cruel crown of thorns was viciously forced
down on His head. And then, after He was driven through the streets of
Jerusalem, He was nailed, not tied, but nailed to a cross and raised in
torment to die. Jesus felt pain that day – intense, searing, dreadful
physical anguish. But the greatest pain He experienced, the worst pain
of all, was the pain in His heart for the sins of the world – for your
sins and mine – that were crucified with Him that day at Calvary.
Jesus has suffered enough. I think we all agree with that statement.
Do we, by our actions today, cause Him further pain? I’m afraid we too
often do. Jesus hurts when His children are hurting. He hurts when we
hurt someone else. We need to stop the pain. We need to stop hurting
ourselves and others. Love your neighbor as yourself. Spread happiness,
not pain, with your words and with your actions. Live with a Jesus
attitude. Put Jesus in the right place and your world will be OK.
Lord, we come to You. Help us to stop hurting ourselves and
others. Give us a "Jesus attitude" that we may be filled with Your
love. In Jesus Name. Amen.
“How Much Did Jesus Hurt” is from “Sermons for Seniors,” by George Boose. Used with
permission of the author. The audio is by Pastor Ron Beckham.
