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Tag: grief

He was what? A Man of sorrows?
I’m beginning to fear that I may be becoming like Jesus in ways I had not anticipated. The morose line from scripture which stalks my days?

He was a man of sorrows…
Yeshaiya 53:3

Think about living like the Messiah of mankind.

Forgiving? Sure. Sometimes I want to forgive others.

Loving? Definitely! The Lord Jesus exemplified love of those who seemed not to deserve God’s love in this brief mortal life.

But “a man of sorrows,” from the description of Isaiah? This I had never considered.

Isaiah 53:

53:1 מִ֥י הֶאֱמִ֖ין לִשְׁמֻעָתֵ֑נוּ וּזְר֥וֹעַ יְהוָ֖ה עַל־מִ֥י נִגְלָֽתָה׃

āman?

Who has believed it?

Indeed, not only Jews have rejected their Messiah. And what Christian wants to believe the report that our Christ is a man of sorrows?

Which hopeful worshiper of God desires to embrace sorrows for this brief mortal life?

Not me. But it gets worse.

He is despised and rejected of men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:
Isaiah 53:3a KJV
- Despised?
- Rejected by others?
- Acquainted with grief?
WHY would anyone want to be like Jesus Christ, the Messiah of God, IF we must resemble any of these descriptions of man in God’s own Image?

AND it gets worse. For Isaiah continues with the expected reactions of other men to this tender shoot from the dust of the promised land:

.. and we hid as it were our faces from him;
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Isaiah 53:3b KJV

Acquainted with sorrows

Jesus was a Man of sorrows. And yes, more lately it seems that so am I.

For I too am a man acquainted with sorrows — and with DEATH.

We shudder to think about this inevitability and finality of our own mortality.

In fact, you too are a man or a woman of sorrows IF you dare think about sin and death. All see it.

We know those who have died. Some we love deeply: our mother, father, a beloved grandparent, a sister or brother who dies before us — even a wife or husband, a beloved lifelong friend…

They die…, one and then another, and leave us behind to grieve a great loss of love we embraced for so brief a time.

Sadly, I surmise: I am a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief…

Why am I despised and rejected?

Some confession here: I have often felt despised by those who I thought mattered most in the world. Certainly I’ve been rejected by those holding the keys to power and influence in the world.

Aren’t most of us? (I always thought it was just me.)

Looking back though, I now see through the mist of life that each time I witnessed Jesus Christ as Lord to those who reject Him, I was hated. And look what Isaiah says about the Messiah:

..there is no beauty that we should desire him. ‘We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. – NLT

The scene we encounter is man hiding from the LORD in Eden – a scene of our sinful hiding from God every time we want to be like the Messiah – a second adam’ sent to atone for our sins.

Dear grieving worshiper of the Lord suffering the sorrows of your faith,

Do not despair over what the Sacrifice of the Savior has done for you.

אָכֵן חֳלָיֵנוּ הוּא נָשָׂא וּמַכְאֹבֵינוּ סְבָלָם וַאֲנַחְנוּ

Do you understand the substitution of the Sinless Son of Man for your sins?
He has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows

חֳלִי chŏlîy, khol-ee’; from H2470; malady, anxiety, calamity:—disease, grief, (is) sick(-ness).

מַכְאֹב makʼôb, mak-obe’; sometimes מַכְאוֹב makʼôwb; also (feminine Isaiah 53:3) מַכְאֹבָה makʼôbâh; from H3510; anguish or (figuratively) affliction:—grief, pain, sorrow.
He IS the sacrificial LAMB of G-d who takes away the sins of the world.

But He was pierced for our offenses,
He was crushed for our wrongdoings;
The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him,
And by His wounds we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5 NASB20

All of us, like sheep, have gone astray..

Jerusalem, Jerusalem..

Jerusalem, Jerusalem

7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.

8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away;

And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off from the land of the living
For the wrongdoing of my people, to whom the blow was due?

He was a man of sorrows

.. they took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began shouting,
“Hosanna!
BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, indeed, the King of Israel!”
The Good News of John 12:13 NASB20
March 24, 2021
Witnesses to Jesus Risen! – Peter
“Come and have breakfast,” Jesus told them.
None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord.
John 21:12 CSB

3 Questions & more..

As you read previously in Witnesses to Jesus Risen! – Simon Peter this third encounter of the Disciples with the risen Jesus includes John and five others fishing with Peter, but John draws our attention to Jesus’ questions to Simon Peter.

If you have not briefly examined the Lord’s exchange with Simon in Greek or love defined where they converse, you will find if helpful to click on the link above to the previous part of this post about Simon Peter.

Our focus is on just three verses.

John 21:
- 15 So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?”
  - He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”
    He said to him, “Tend My lambs.”
- 16 He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?”
  - He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”
    He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.”
- 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?”
- John now adds his personal understanding of his fellow Disciple, Simon Peter:
  - Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”
    Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.
Questions & Answers of Love

Last time we noted from the Greek a mismatch between Jesus’ questions and Simon Peter’s answers.
1. John 21:15 Gr agapao
2. John 21:15 Gr phileo
3. John 21:16 Gr agapao
4. John 21:16 Gr phileo
Furthermore, in the Lord’s first question to Simon He asks him about the others, who Peter ignores in his self-focused reply.

And I pointed out a possible motive for Jesus switching up His third question of love to Simon Peter.

3 Commands – Leading in Love

With all of this as background (to this 2-part post about Simon Peter), now we can view Jesus’ three commands to His Disciple He named, The Rock.

Let’s look at the Lord’s three commands to Simon Peter [Simōn Petros].
1. Tend My lambs.
2. Shepherd My sheep.
3. Tend My sheep.
All three commands of Jesus to Simon are similar. In Jesus’ first question the Lord’s reference to the others suggests to Peter a metaphor. His lambs (the others) require a comparative tenderness, even more so than simply watching vulnerable sheep. (Do not be the hired hand who flees the danger of the one that devours them.)

βόσκω – to feed, portraying the duty of a Christian teacher to promote in every way the spiritual welfare of the members of the church

ποιμαίνω – to feed, to tend a flock, keep sheep; but also to rule or govern

ποιμαίνω – again, the same verb for Shepherd, from the Noun ποιμήν for a herdsman, esp. a shepherd

And in Jesus’ parable, he to whose care and control others have committed themselves, and whose precepts they follow.

This applies metaphorically to any presiding officer, overseers (i.e. bishops, elders), kings and princes, and of course to Christ as head of the church.

“I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
John 10:14-15 NASB – The Lord Jesus, Son of Man Sacrificed for our sins.

John’s understanding of Peter

Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?”
John 21:17b – NASB

I asked at the beginning of this two-part post about Simon Peter:
- What does a DEATH have to do with GOOD NEWS?
John tells us that ‘Peter was grieved,’ but as I mentioned before John has a great understanding of Peter’s heart.

For when John writes his Gospel sometime after A.D. 85, Simon Peter has already ‘taken up his cross’ and literally followed their Lord, Shepherd and Master to be crucified on a cross.

John grieves for Peter. He misses his own dear friend as he does his own brother James who also had been martyred for their Master, Christ Jesus.

Matthew confirms their reaction

The Apostle Matthew had used the same description of what all the Disciples felt when Jesus revealed that one of them would betray Him. “Surely not I, Lord?”

John explains Peter’s own grief of rejection for his failures of the flesh, breaking through an apparent hardness of The Rock who cannot answer his Lord directly about his commitment to love.

You will weep & lament.. and you will grieve

“Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy.
John 16:20 NASB – Jesus’ prophesy of the Disciples grief, but joy for the world

Grief & Grieving result from things other than death. [see definition]

λυπέω from sorrow – λύπη
- be sorrowful (6x), grieve (6x), make sorry (6x), be sorry (3x), sorrow (3x), cause grief (1x), be in heaviness (1x)
- to affect with sadness, cause grief, to throw into sorrow
- to grieve, offend
- to make one uneasy, cause him a scruple
There’s a relationship between grief and love,

And there is no grief where a soul has not love.

Have YOU ever experienced grief in a loving relationship with another?

Simon Peter had.

John’s heart for their friend Peter (even after Peter’s death) desires to share the Disciple’s grief over his failings of their friend and Lord, Christ Jesus.

Jesus & Peter

NOTE: All these things had taken place in just three years, many events within the weeks just prior to Jesus’ Crucifixion, and now His Resurrection appearances to Peter, John and the Disciples.

Peter follows Jesus

All the Gospel writers except John testify how Simon Peter and others came to follow the Lord. (Many had previously been disciples of John the Baptist who baptized Jesus.)

Luke 5: – an earlier fishing encounter
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MATTHEW 4 & MARK 1 also witness this important event
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Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret.. And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s.. When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”

Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.” .. they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break.. their partners in the other boat .. came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink.
- Does this sound at all familiar?
  - It was from when Jesus first called His Disciples, which must have been a most memorable moment to both Peter and John.
  - And listen to Simon Peter’s response to Jesus choosing him as His Disciple:
But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”
Luke 5:8 NASB

For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.

And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.”

These three become Jesus’ inner circle and closest earthly friends. This is the Simon Peter for whom both Jesus and the Apostle John show compassion. “Tend my lambs…” and Simon’s surviving friend witnesses to the Church Peter’s heart for Christ Jesus.

When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

Peter’s Confession of Christ

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon [Son of Jonah] Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”

– Matthew 16 excerpt

At The Last Supper

Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written,
‘I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP OF THE FLOCK SHALL BE SCATTERED.’
Matthew 26:31 NASB – note the Lord’s metaphor of the Shepherd & the sheep

“But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”
Matthew 26:31 NASB – Jesus to the Disciples of His flock

Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You.”

Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”

Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” All the disciples said the same thing too.

We unfairly convict Peter but forget that all of the Eleven also promised the same. And after this Matthew witnesses:

And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed.
Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”
Matthew 26:37-38 When the Lord was grieved in Gethsemane

Returning to Galilee’s shore
- Capernaum boat slips
- Capernaum
- Sea of Galilee
- “Children, have you any fish?”
And even though the Disciples had met the risen Lord Jesus in Jerusalem behind locked doors, here He fed them once more at dawn on a Galilee beach near Capernaum.

The Disciple Jesus loved testifies the Good News to the Church. It was here that Christ restored The Rock upon which their Living Stones have been built.

Simon, Son of Jonah, was also crucified when he took up our Shepherd’s Cross. The Disciples and Peter live in Christ Jesus!

In Him Christ has restored sinners like Simon — sinners like me, the one Jesus loved would say — and because like Peter you follow Him, sinners like you.

John does give us GOOD NEWS about death, yet most urgently the Gospel of Jesus Christ who died to give sinners like us eternal LIFE.

P.S. – John’s post script

The Apostle closes his Gospel with a brief explanation to Christians who know him and have heard ‘church rumors’ that are untrue. (Have you ever heard something untrue from a fellow saint of your church?)

We will hear John’s clarification of truth next time and briefly mention the importance of truth in our witness for the Lord Jesus.
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To be continued.. 
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December 19, 2020
Death’s Melancholy: Resurrection’s Rapture

“Then beginning with the scriptures of Moses and from all the prophets he uncovered the things concerning himself.” – the good news of Luke 24:27

Scripture taught along a road from Jerusalem

One of the the most remarkable verses in scripture comes to us from witnesses on a road to Emmaus from Jerusalem. Though less notable than much scripture, two followers of the crucified Christ learn scripture from him. We quickly learn the personal witness of Cleopas and one other follower who encounter the risen Lord in person! Jesus, as we might expect, picks up in teaching scripture just as the Lord had done for three years.

Describing the Scene

Matthew Henry [1662-1714], scriptural commentator from Wales U.K., describes the scene with much compassion for those who had just endured the traumatic events in Jerusalem.

Our Lord Jesus went gloriously down to death, in spite of the malice of his enemies, who did all they could to make his death ignominious; but he rose again more gloriously, of which we have an account in this chapter; and the proofs and evidences of Christ’s resurrection are more fully related by this evangelist than they were by Matthew and Mark.

One of these two disciples was Cleopas or Alpheus, said by the ancients to be the brother of Joseph, Christ’s supposed father; who the other was is not certain..

They went to a village called Emmaus, which is reckoned to be about two hours’ walk from Jerusalem; it is here said to be about sixty furlongs, seven measured miles..

Henry describes these two former followers of Jesus of Nazareth:

They were sad; it appeared to a stranger that they were so. They had lost their dear Master, and were, in their own apprehensions, quite disappointed in their expectations from him. They had given up the cause, and knew not what course to take to retrieve it.

Isn’t this how death of one we love and admire generally comes upon us? Listen more to Henry’s account:

Note, Christ’s disciples are often sad and sorrowful even when they have reason to rejoice, but through the weakness of their faith they cannot take the comfort that is offered to them. Being sad, they had communications one with another concerning Christ…

Weep with them who weep

Henry continues: Giving vent to the grief may perhaps give ease to the grieved; and by talking it over we may talk ourselves or our friends may talk us into a better frame.

“Joint mourners should be mutual comforters; comforts sometimes come best from such.”
Matthew Henry on the mourning of the Disciples after Jesus’ death.

Though Christ had now entered into his state of exaltation, yet he continued tender of his disciples, and concerned for their comfort. He speaks as one troubled to see their melancholy.. Note, Our Lord Jesus takes notice of the sorrow and sadness of his disciples, and is afflicted in their afflictions.

Christ has hereby taught us, [1.] To be conversable. Christ here fell into discourse with two grave serious persons, though he was a stranger to them and they knew him not, and they readily embraced him. It does not become Christians to be morose and shy, but to take pleasure in good society.

[2.] We are hereby taught to be compassionate. When we see our friends in sorrow and sadness, we should, like Christ here, take cognizance of their grief, and give them the best counsel and comfort we can: Weep with them that weep.

Luke 24:13-35 excerpts

[You may want to take time here to read Luke 24 or additional verses.]

15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad.

Conversation along a road to Emmaus

NOTE: The conversational style of their witness presumes who speaks, yet who says anything other than Jesus does not really matter.

Cleopas: “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

The unrecognized man now walking with them: “What things?”

Cleopas (most likely): “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.

The other disciple: Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive.

Cleopas (perhaps): Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.

The unrecognized, risen, Son of Man: “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”

Reaction to the Risen Christ!

Can you image their reaction and sudden recognition of their witness of the Risen Christ?

From this point forward, their journey would be transformed. Sorrow lifts toward rapturous joy! Jesus once more walks with those He loves. The Lord begins teaching more scriptures from the books of Moses. He unwraps so many verses from the scriptures written about Him by the Prophets.

Jesus’ words from Isaiah and other Prophets we have just read must have pierced the hearts of these two disciples. For He spoke of His life as predicted by scripture and explained why the Lord’s crucifixion for our sins had to take place.

What a glorious walk to Emmaus after having left Jerusalem dejected and directionless.

Conclusion to conversation at journey’s end

28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther..

Cleopas: “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.”

,, So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread,,

Jesus (familiar words of blessing, to this effect):

‘This is my body which is given for you…

He broke it and gave it to both disciples…

31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.

And he vanished from their sight!

The other disciple (in mutual amazement) to Cleopas: “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem.

Yes, even though it was toward evening, these two disciples who had just encountered Jesus immediately returned. They had just completed a seven mile walk, yet would return under the cover of darkness for about a three hour journey and ascent back into the Roman-guarded city of Jerusalem.

35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Melancholy or Joy?

What describes your mortal life? Does the inevitability of death (and yes, judgment) cause you grief?

Christians speak of a rapture, really an overflowing indescribable joy in one sense.

The Gospel of the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus is filled with joy.
“for those who believe.
Yet you must believe in Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit.”

Scripture also prophesies a rapture of these last days as certainly as death destroys the flesh. Judgment of all, in Christ or against Christ (the only two choices). Resurrection lifts up the soul and the Lord creates a new and indestructible sinless body! Only by the purification of the Blood of Christ Jesus… only through Christ.

The Bible speaks of a new Jerusalem, a new heaven and a new earth! An eternal place in the Presence of the LORD where:

“..there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. – The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John: 21:4 KJV

Who do you choose?

Do you stand alone, justifying your sins by your own good works? After having done so little for the Lord, as we all may rightfully be convicted, are you facing death’s melancholy?

Or in Christ Jesus, the incarnate son of man, born to a virgin, died for our sins as Perfect Sacrifice on a cross – in Christ the LORD, One with the Father and One with the Holy Spirit, will you embrace the resurrection’s rapture? It is the Good News, the great joy, the glad tidings of Easter for those who bow down to the LORD.

“He IS the Lord of love. Jesus IS. Worship the Lord our God, who loves you so much as to endure the Cross.” tweet=”Amen. Happy Easter. Joy and eternal life is ours in Christ Jesus.

April 16, 2017