“Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, ‘Dear woman, here is your son.’ And he said to this disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from then on this disciple took her into his home.”
John 19:25-27
Jesus was fully man, and fully God. He was not just a man, he was not just God; he was sent down from heaven to experience life on earth as a human, and we see his humanity in this moment. We see him looking at his earthly mother, and his earthly best friend, and wanting to remain with them. And though he deeply wanted to remain on earth with them, he also knew he had to die.
I think we often forget that God understands our plight. He understands what we experience daily in these bodies on this earth. He sent his son to experience it so that when we think he doesn’t understand, we can know that he does. He understands how hard it is to be healthy, to deal with other humans, to feel deeply, to care, to be tempted. He knows all of our emotions, and he calls us to bring them to him.
If you are feeling something you don’t think anyone could possibly understand, Jesus understands it. He understands our sorrow, our temptations, our needs and desires. He has lived it, and he died for those things, too. He died so that in our sorrow, we could find hope. In our temptation, we could find strength, and in our wanting, we could find contentment in him. Without his death, our human life is without meaning, but he died so we could have purpose and hope today.
Are you feeling hopeless, full of sorrow, tempted, frustrated? Bring it all to Jesus, and ask him to help you carry it because he knows.
For Kids:
Give each child a piece of paper and have them write down (or draw) as many feelings/emotions as they can think of.
Explain to them that God loves to know how we’re feeling. He loves to hear about everything in our lives. And because of Jesus he understands more deeply the power of emotions.
“This High Priest of ours {Jesus} understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.” Hebrews 4:15
Have the kids choose a feeling that causes them to sin. Explain to them that even though Jesus felt anger as a human, he did not sin because he is God. Emotions are real and okay, feeling them is good, but acting out because of them is where we get into sin.
Have each of them pray and ask God to help them not let their emotions turn to sin.
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