The Reality of Earthly Pain

Scripture: When Jesus heard what had happened [the beheading of John the Baptist], he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Matthew 14:13a

Observation: Jesus' immediate response when he hears of the death of John the Baptist is not some parable, or lesson about heaven, or teaching about the greatness of John and his alignment to prophesy ... he's already said those things. Instead, his response is to retreat to a place to attempt to be alone. In other words, he goes to mourn for his cousin, the God-appointed, and spirit-filled messenger of his coming.

Jesus is the one person in all of history who fully understood eternal life. He was the bringer of that life, and our mediator for entry into heaven. In other words, he is the one person who best understood the truth of John's death. And yet, as a man fully human, he still is sad and mourns that death.

Application: If Jesus - God come to earth as a man - experiences grief and sadness even when he knows of the good results and the glory of heaven, then clearly these sorts of emotions are part of the human character that exists to serve God's purposes.

I believe the purpose of earthly pain is likely two-fold:

1) Pain exists to provide us with a level of discontentment in this world. It is through pain - physical or emotional - that we yearn for something better, and thus can begin to get our heads around what eternal life with Jesus in heaven must be like (an absence of physical pain; an abundance of emotional love).

2) Especially emotional pain is the result of true love, and thus it provides insight into God. Particularly, the pain we feel at the loss of someone teaches us just a little about how God feels when someone rejects him, sentencing themselves to eternal separation from God, and thus we can strive to spare God that pain by joining in the work of salvation with him.

Prayer: Dear Lord, break my heart for what breaks yours. Teach me how to mourn the eternal loss of others enough that I strive more and more each day to do your work and try to ensure that doesn't happen to those around me. Amen.