LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
The Pain of God's Heart (3)
There is a second great expression of the pain of God's heart. This time it is for his loved ones, when they suffer. The pains that God's children suffer are often increased when they perceive that no one understands them, that they are suffering alone. The pain is thus increased by loneliness and incomprehension. However, a child of God is never alone with his pain. The Bible says: "In all their affliction he was afflicted" (Is. 63:9).
What do these words mean? They mean that our sorrows find an echo in the heart of God. A clear example of this is that scene in Bethany, because of the death of Lazarus. Lazarus had died, and his sisters were mourning him. Their grief was greater because of the absence of the Lord Jesus. Martha said to him: "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died". That "if you had been here" betrays the need for companionship when we are going through suffering.
When the Lord arrives, they weep again; however, their weeping has hope. The Lord says to Martha: "Your brother will rise again". And then, in the midst of pain and despair, a certainty arises. Lazarus would live again. The two sisters were able to see at once the gentleness of Jesus' heart. For when he saw Mary weeping "and the Jews with her weeping, he (Jesus) was moved in spirit, and was moved with compassion, and said: Where have you laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see; and Jesus wept" (Jn. 11:33-35).
When Jesus wept he showed the feeling of God's heart, for Jesus showed us what God is like. He said: "He who has seen me has seen the Father" (Jn. 14:9). And John says of him: "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath made him known" (Jn. 1:18). Man's pain is not indifferent to him, but is also his pain.
The apostle Paul speaks in Colossians of "the sufferings of Christ for his body, which is the church" (1:24). Those afflictions may be due, no doubt, to our stubbornness, and to our many defections, but they are surely also due to our sorrows.
Yesterday he joined in the weeping of her friends in Bethany, today he joins in your weeping and mine. The prophet said: "In all their distress he was distressed". We can say, with confidence: "In all our tears he mingles his own". That is why the apostle, ever concerned to bring us into Christlikeness, tells us: "Weep with those who weep" (Rom. 12:15). Because he is not indifferent to our tears, he wants us to share the tears of our brothers.
The pain of God's heart has many expressions: judgment toward those who persist in sin and do not want to listen to God's warnings, and comfort toward his children in their suffering. Which side are you on?