Does Jesus Care?

“Christians need their best theology in their darkest moments. ”

Some nursing home residents were sitting around discussing their various ailments. One said, “My arms are so weak I can barely lift this cup of coffee.” “Well, at least you can see your cup,” said another.

  “My cataracts are so bad that it’s hard for me to see mine.”

  A third one chimed in, “What about arthritis? Mine’s so bad that I can’t even turn my head.”

  "My blood pressure pills make me very dizzy," added another. “I guess that’s the price we have to pay for getting old.”

  There seemed to be general agreement with that gloomy assessment until one woman spoke up, “Wait a minute. It’s not that bad,” she said. “Hey, at least…we can all still drive!”

  Let’s be honest. It’s easy to have your own personal pity party and end up feeling very depressed. Frequently, when we’re going through tough times, when we’re suffering, we cry out, “Where’s God? Why isn’t He doing something about this? Does He even care about me?”

  That’s a relevant question to consider: “Does God care about us? Does He really care about His people?”

  One of the most striking passages in the Old Testament concerning this is found in Isaiah 63:7-9 where the prophet Isaiah writes: “I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD, the deeds for which He is to be praised, according to all the LORD has done for us—yes, the many good things He has done for the house of Israel, according to His compassion and many kindnesses. He said, ‘Surely they are my people, sons who will not be false to Me’; and so He became their Savior. In all their distress He too was distressed, and the angel of His presence saved them. In His love and mercy He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.”  That’s a wonderful passage. The key sentence that we need to focus on is verse 9, “In all their distress He too was distressed.”

  God said nearly the same thing as He spoke to Moses at the burning bush. "I have indeed seen the misery of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out…and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them” (Ex. 3:7-8), and then He told Moses to go and tell Pharaoh, “Let my people go!”

  Over and over again the Bible has a continual theme that God loves us and cares about us. We see it in the birth of Christ. It’s no accident that God didn’t send His Son to be born into a royal family, to be born in the palace of a king…to enjoy the very best this world has to offer. Instead, He chose to learn what it is like to be poor, to spend long hours working under a hot sun with calluses on His hands with sore, aching muscles. He knows what it’s like to be a part of a despised race. He knows what it’s like to be arrested and tried for crimes that He did not commit. And hanging there on the cross in our place, Jesus Christ experienced pain such as you and I have never experienced…that is beyond even our worst nightmares.

  Many years ago a group of Christian missionaries visited Mahatma Gandhi to discuss their work in India. Before they left, Gandhi asked them to sing for him one of their Christian hymns. “Which one shall we sing?” they asked. “Sing the one that best expresses what you believe,” he replied.

  And so they sang together “When I survey the wondrous cross On which the Prince of glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride.”

  Too often we take for granted the repulsiveness of the cross. In Jesus’ day, the cross was a horrible, despicable thing, reserved for the vilest offenders that society could condemn. Nobody in the Roman Empire would have written a song about the cross, any more than we today would write a hymn about the gas chamber, the electric chair, or the gallows.

  But Jesus Christ not only did something on the cross, He did something to the cross! He transformed it from a symbol of suffering to a symbol of victory and glory. Regardless of what a person may think about Jesus Christ, anyone who seriously examines the subject of suffering and pain must also confront Calvary’s Cross.

  In the four Gospels, we discover a remarkable thing: Jesus didn't explain suffering, instead He experienced it and did all He could to relieve it. Through His life, death, and resurrection, He transformed suffering and the cross on which He suffered and died. So powerful was His impact that just twenty years or so after the crucifixion, the Apostle Paul was able to write, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14). In the Roman Empire, crucifixion was never mentioned in polite society; yet here is the Apostle Paul boasting in the cross!

  If there’s one clear message that Jesus gives us about God and suffering, it’s this: God is identified with us in our suffering and can enable us to turn tragedy into triumph. When you and I are going through the valley, when we are fighting the battle, or facing the furnace, God is not some apathetic, disinterested spectator; He’s an active participant with us in the sufferings and pain of this life. God knows what it is to suffer too. As Isaiah said, “In all their distress He too was distressed” (63:9).

  The God of the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is not the “Unmoved Mover” of the philosophers. He is not some distant, uncaring God…God suffers too.

  Pleasure, safety and protection from pain are not the most important things in life. Jesus deliberately put Himself into situations that brought Him great suffering in one way or another. His most important task in life was to do the will of God, no matter what the cost might be.

  Christ’s resurrection is God’s evidence that He was satisfied with Jesus’ payment for our sin. The price has been paid. Jesus suffered in our place so that we could be forgiven and have eternal life. Jesus suffered to give us the gift of eternal life. It’s a free gift. But a gift must be accepted. Have you accepted God’s gift?

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.