Q3. Man of Sorrows

[rosegarden]

On 12/10/2015 at 2:17 PM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q3. (Isaiah 53:3) How can Jesus be the Man of Sorrows as well as the one who finds joy in his Father? How can we experience sorrow without it coming to dominate our lives?

a. Jesus came to bear our sin, sorrows, pain, sickness and deliverance through His suffering on the cross.  He continually had fellowship with the Father and encouraged in prayer came to do the will of the Father, but when in came crunch time He had to look to the Father and said not my will but thy will be done.  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2).

b. We too, when we experience sorrow need to come to the Father in prayer and knowing he cares for us, cast all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)  We need to release our sorrows and let go of them because Jesus already took them for us and gives us freedom, so we don't need to let them dominate our lives.
 

[Bianca]

Jesus didn't like unbelief. Jesus definitely likes to be trusted and believed. When he says something in his word or to us personally he definitely wants us believe him that it is true and it will happen. But even with all that,he experienced joy with his Father. Jesus was also looking ahead to what he was getting by going through all of this. Beautiful souls and alot of fruit being produce.

 

We know that this world is going to end , so we have to look at things in light of eternity. We are called to still have joy and laugh and have fun with family and friends. We are called to definitely care about others and help others but not to walk around worrying. That's not helping either. 

[Krissi]

Sorrow comes in waves, breaking over me and then receding. I have learned to accept each wave as it comes, praying to be spared but enduring, if I must, as did Job. I know, now, that this current wave of sorrow will also end either in this life or the next. 

I draw comfort from the horrifying book of Job because suffering and sorrow are seen as a meaningful mystery -- meaningful to God, mysterious to Job. I don't believe I'll ever understand the meaning of sorrow, suffering ... evil. This is for Him to know, not me.

So, sorrow is to be endured. It's to be waited out. When it ends, it ends. After each wave of sorrow, I'm a bit closer to Him. But after each wave of suffering, I also learn something that deepens my faith, that draws me closer to Him. That's the superficial meaning of sorrow, that it exists as a tool of sanctification, to bring us still closer to being like Christ.

[Krissi]

I used to be dismayed at what I thought was the Roman Catholic emphasis on the suffering of Jesus, Via Dolorasa, etc., but now I understand, perhaps too well, that suffering, sorrow, pain and hopelessness are part of a Christian life. We tend to idealize Christians who are at the top of their game ... we want to think that God answers prayers intimately and deeply, in a satisfying manner, that He leads us to success and happiness, contentment and joy.

Yet, in reality, God doesn't always answer prayer in short order nor does He want our joy. He often ignore our pleading for an end to pain. It could be the case that suffering is His sovereign will, the unwanted answer to our prayers.

God is sovereign. He is over all. He is all-powerful. What happens to us occurs under His watchful eye. He knows and knew what has happened to us ... yet let our suffering continue.

I have found that the key to dealing with sorrow is to accept it as God's will. I accept, mostly, the idea that God put suffering in my life -- He could have chosen differently, after all. I no longer expect my life to be joy-filled, nor do I believe that suffering is Satanic or  occasional.

Joy is the exception, not suffering. 

 

 

 

[Niyonka16]

Q3. (Isaiah 53:3) How can Jesus be the Man of Sorrows as well as the One who finds joy in His Father?

ANSWER: Jesus is called “a man of sorrows” because of how much suffering He had to endure. He suffered first by leaving the glories of heaven and entering the human race as a man. Then He suffered all the things that humanity suffers, and then finally He suffered the wrath of God as the sin-bearer. Such suffering must have been all the more acute for Him, given His perfect nature. Who of us could ever understand the depths of what His righteous spirit suffered as He lived among fallen humanity? Although He is called “a man of sorrows,” Jesus was not a morose, doleful person. He did endure times of sadness, but He could rejoice in His sufferings as He focused on the final outcome. Jesus is “the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus endured many pains, hardships, sufferings, and sorrows. You can sense sorrow in Jesus when he sees gross unbelief in his followers, even his disciples. There is deep sorrow in Jesus on the cross, where He as Sin-Bearer is carrying the weight of all our sins, and cries, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46). But He kept His eyes on the final joy of completing God’s purpose and redeeming His lost sheep.

It was Jesus’ willingness to endure suffering and sorrow in a world of suffering and sorrow that ultimately rescues all who trust in Him from the very presence of any suffering and sorrow. “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4). Yet the earthly Jesus also experienced joy and prayed that this joy might be shared by His disciples

How can we experience sorrow without it coming to dominate our lives?

ANSWER: The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. The Scripture depicts a sort of happiness in the midst of sadness. It means experiencing two things at once: one being the damage caused by sin and the other being the happiness given by God. We are to have joy in sorrow.

Now we  focus on the simultaneous experience of joy in weeping, joy in pain, joy in sorrow. We can experience joy in the midst of suffering by experiencing joy in the Holy Spirit.

1. reasons for joy and sorrow can converge. One of the reasons there can be joy and sorrow simultaneously is that the reasons for each of them are different, and those reasons can both be true simultaneously in our experience.
2. pain and joy are grounded on different realities. Christian joy doesn’t mean we don’t feel pain. We can see from Revelation 21:4 that tears correlate with death and loss, and crying correlates with pain. the Bible speaks about that pain in relation to joy in two ways — two real, true ways. tearful joy in God will be replaced with tearless joy in God. Painful joy in God will be replaced with painless joy in God. You can’t stop pain and tears from coming, but you can keep joy from going. Because the pain and the joy are grounded on different realities.
3. nothing can dislodge our joy in Jesus Christ. God is in charge of what happens to you. There is no condemnation now or forever. And Jesus is an all-satisfying treasure and friend. This is an unshakable boulder of joy — real gladness, real satisfaction in all that God is for you in Jesus. Tearful joy gives way to tearless joy. Moreover, embrace all the Scriptures about joy and sorrow.