Deep, excruciating reality in His story

Continuation of yesterday's post:

Luke 22: [61] And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. [62] And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.

Peter looks up and there’s the Lord looking at him. Eye contact, eye-to-eye. Thomas Talmage said, “That’s a look that made a man weep.”

But the Lord doesn’t betray Peter. He doesn’t make any kind of outward expression, any kind of recognition, no frown, no anything. But that look sent Peter into the horror of what he had done, explains Richard Jordan.

The Lord’s looking at His No. 1 guy. You remember in Matthew 16, [18] And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

The Lord Jesus watched multitudes of His followers walk away from Him. He knew what it was to be prosecuted unjustly and have His friends abandon Him. As He’s awaiting execution He’s by Himself. He stands alone. In His darkest moment He’s completely abandoned.

The song "Tell Me the Story of Jesus" says, “Tell of the sorrow He bore.
He was despised and afflicted,
Homeless, rejected and poor.”

The Lord knew what it was like to grieve, to have pain and anguish. He knew what it was to lose a loved one. He experienced this on an individual, personal level that comes from the core of who you are.

You know, when you suffer loss, especially when you mourn the loss of loved ones, oftentimes people question whether there’s a God--why an all-powerful God would allow death to take people. Well, the Lord Jesus understood the depths of that sorrow.

Sometimes you don’t think about this, but John the Baptist was Christ’s cousin. You remember how John the Baptist died?

Matthew 14: [10] And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison.
[11] And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother.
[12] And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus.
[13] When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.

When Christ hears about John’s death He goes out all by Himself and you know He didn’t do that because He was scared. He went out and did what you would have done; He grieved. He knew the anguish.

It’s one simple little statement in one simple little verse but you look at it and there’s a deep, excruciating reality that you see in Him on the death of John.

Just like in Luke 22, He had a place where He went. He had places He retreated to mourn.

You know the passage in John 11 where Lazarus dies, His friend, His close compadre. He stands at the grave of Lazarus and the shortest verse in an English bible is, “Jesus wept.”

I’m just trying to say to you, He gets you; He knows what goes on. And by the way, when you think about His family, His family was anything but perfect. You have a dysfunctional family? You have relationships in your family that kind of get strained at times?

Luke 4: [28] And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
[29] And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.

Here’s all these people, the grew up with Him, they’ve known Him since He was a kid. They know who He is and now they want to kill Him; throw Him off a cliff!

You ever had friends get mad at you? I hope they get mad at you because you’re preaching the Word to them. His closest friends betray Him into the hands of the authorities.

It’s not even until after the resurrection that His family comes around. The betrayal, the doubt, the insecurity, the disagreements, the distance. All that is involved in the relationship He has with His family and His friends.