We all have different ways of facing and coping with tragedy, loss, pain, and fear. And as we walk into Holy Week — the week leading up to Easter Sunday — I’m keenly aware of the sorrow and the pain and even the fear that accompanies the somberness and solemnity of these last days Jesus walked the earth.
I’m noticing how He responded to His own distress and fear in His last hours leading up to the cross in Matthew 26:36-39 and how He shows us what true strength in the midst of pain and tragedy really looks like.
Spoiler alert: His version of strength is a bit upside-down compared to what the world says strong should look like.
He’s teaching me that fear and Love can take up space in the same room, a deep sense of supernatural peace can accompany loss and pain, and that we were created to embody what we experience and feel.
In today’s blog post, I’m diving deeper into the topic of what it means to suffer with Jesus and sharing with you 3 things the Holy Spirit highlighted to me regarding strength and suffering as I meditated on Jesus’ last hours in the Garden of Gethsemane.
I pray that this Holy Week reflection on suffering with Jesus would bless you today, reminding you that Love does come near in the face of fear.
Read or Listen here: A Holy Week Reflection on Suffering with Jesus
Peace be with you,
Celia
I didn't get to read this in its entirety until after holy week was over. But I very much appreciated the applications of scripture and how you related Jesus suffering in pain and fear to how we can handle the pain and fear in our own lives.
I love the point you made that we can hold both Grace for the moment and fear of the unknown. We can hold both light in the dark times and the pain of loss in our bones. And I would add that we can hold both grief and hope as well. We have to know that hope deep in our bones in order to have peace that the grief abides. Instead of seeking to eradicate the grief, we need to draw close to Jesus and allow him to sit in the grief with us. I think this is yet another mystery of his upside down kingdom.