Man of Sorrows, and Acquainted with Grief

I had an "aha" moment in church today. This past week we had a plunge into the "pain" of the orphan crisis. Before pursuing adoption, we knew it was hard and complicated and messy. But now we *know*. We mourn it, we hurt, we are sorrowful. I was thinking how you just can't know until you see it and feel it for yourself. I know there's more to come, more to see...more to KNOW, not just know about but KNOW.


I was thinking about how Jesus came to earth right in the midst of the pain of living in a sinful world. I don't even know if I can explain how real this became to me. From heaven down to earth, what a contrast! I can't imagine. He saw the pain, felt the pain, was a victim of the pain. 


"He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53:3-5

He's familiar with our sufferings because he came and lived here and witnessed it and experienced it. I see the sufferings that are part of my tiny world and tiny experience. He knows IT ALL. I could not bear it. 

He came down to earth and was not spared. He bore it all, suffered it all... He doesn't just know ABOUT our grief. He KNOWS our grief. 

"For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people." Hebrews 2:17