Jacob is at an interesting age where he will ask the truly deep philosophical questions, take countless pictures of himself, and now listens to everything I say, whether I mean for him to hear it or not. While driving in the car we were listening to the radio – 80’s hits and all – and Jacob bursts out with laughter.
“King of Pain?!?”, he laughs, “What’s this song about?” The song by the Police from 1983 was playing and had escaped my notice. A good question. Police fans out there can write me and tell me what the point of that song is. I don’t know.
I know about a man of pain. In Isaiah 53: 3 the prophet writes about Jesus:
He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. (NLT)
The phrase ‘man of sorrows’ could also be translated literally as ‘man of many pains’. As pains went he had them all. How amazing is it that when Jesus says, ‘Trust me. I’ll see you through this’ , he knows what he is talking about.
Suffering from slander? He’s been there. Had people who hate you? He’s done that too. Questionable pedigree, lacking in education, trouble fitting in, hated by his brothers, abandoned, beat-up, made fun of, poor, hopelessly misunderstood, even by his closest friends. Jesus has seen it all.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.
My cat was suffering from a crusty eye so I thought I could clear this up. I thought maybe she had an eye infection and I knew the perfect thing for infections: hydrogen peroxide.
Well a couple drops should do it right? As soon as I had applied the solution the cat went wild; rubbing her eye with her paws and staggering around. I didn’t understand. ‘Isn’t one of the contact solutions Julie uses basically peroxide?’
‘Peroxide doesn’t sting does it?’, I asked myself. Well there is only one way to find out. After adding a drop to my own eye I had my answer. Yow! That stings! No wonder the cat went crazy. Having both experienced it, the cat and I were in agreement: Hydrogen Peroxide should never be put in someone’s eye.
A friend who knows what he is talking about; Jesus is a Saviour who speaks from experience. He can carry every burden. He can handle any sin.
Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
ephesians2eight 