There is one common bond that all humans on this earth share: pain. No matter who you are, weither you are young and old, male or female, rich or poor, slave or free, you have experienced at one point or another pain. Physical affliction or emotional affliction, we all have been subjected to the groaning of our feeble flesh. For some it is simply colliding with concrete in an accident, others cancer, and still others wounds from war. Physical pain is part of life. Every one of us is familiar with the pangs that are not normal, weither it be tendons, sinews, muscle spasms, fractures, disease, and beyond. From our first cry in this life, to our last; pain is part of every season of our lives weither minor or major. Affliction is common to us, and it was common to our Lord Jesus Christ. He was subjected to beatings of diverse kinds, "Now the men who held Jesus mocked Him and beat Him. And having blindfolded Him, they struck Him on the face and asked Him,saying, “Prophesy! Who is the one who struck You?” And many other things they blasphemously spoke against Him," (Luke 22:63-65), "So Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified," (Matthew 27:26), "Jesus answered him, "If I have spoken wrongly, testify of the wrong; but if rightly, why do you strike Me?," (John 18:23). Our Lord and Savior was beaten with fists and then with whips that had lead, glass, and steel spikes called a cat-o-nine tails. Then our Same God was then pierced in the hands and feet with nine inch (22.86 cm) nails, " they nailed Jesus to a cross. They also nailed the two criminals to crosses, one on each side of Jesus," (Luke 23:32), and "So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." (John 20:25). The Lord suffered immensely, even suffocating or affixation (hence why its called crucifixion, cruc meaning cross and fixation being affixation, suffocating to death by affixation); and He was also drowning because frosenics know that if water flows out of your heart it means it and lungs were filling with water, "Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe" (John 19:34-35). The sheer suffering and physical pain God felt was for our sakes, so that He could reconcile us to the rest of Godhead and Himself, and let us into eternal life (Romans 5:9, Romans 3:25, Ephesians 1:7, Hebrews 9:12-14, Revelation 7:14). Jesus Christ then after being beaten, crucified, dead, and buried, descended into hell to preach to those in Abraham's Bosom (Luke 16:19-31); Jesus then rose (resurrected) from the dead (John 20:1-20), walked forty more days on earth encouraging His disciples, ascended back into Heaven (Acts 1:1-7), and shall return again on clouds of heaven to judge the earth (Revelation 1:7, Revelation 19:11-16).
It brings us comfort in our pain to look to Christ in His pain. That God willingly choose to bear pain to save us, "Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;he took the humble position of a slave, and was born as a human being.When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:4-11). While other false gods make their acolytes bow to perfection, and gold; the One True God came in a body and bore pain, sufferings, and enmity from people (John 8:59, John 10:30-32). God has walked were we walk; through the valley of shadow of death, through sorrow, and great pain. He even at Gethsemane in great distress sweat blood, "And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground." (Luke 22:44). So for those of us suffering from an inner pain of anxiety and stress, our Savior and God Jesus can emphasize, because He was so stressed blood dripped down his brow and neckline! He did this so that we can caste our own stress and anxiety on Him, "Cast all your anxiety (worries, cares) on him because he cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7).
The totality of Christ's pain and sufferings is best explained by the Prophet Isaiah who saw it in vision or revelation from the LORD God:
"Who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
3 He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off out of the land of the living
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?
9 His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off out of the land of the living
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?
9 His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
10 But the Lord was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.
11 As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
And He will divide the booty with the strong;
Because He poured out Himself to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,And interceded for the transgressors." (Isaiah 53:1-12).
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.
11 As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
And He will divide the booty with the strong;
Because He poured out Himself to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,And interceded for the transgressors." (Isaiah 53:1-12).
The comfort of knowing Christ, the God who created all things with Father and Holy Spirit (John 1:3, Colossians 1:16, Genesis 1:26-27) suffered and felt great pain connects us to Him. We have a God who can fellowship the aches, pains, breathing obstructions, heart attacks (Jesus had his fill with water), sorrows; He felt all these things at a magnitude to encompass any pain we can be subjected to in this life. When Christ was nailed to that cross, He took our sins, and secondly He created a connection to us just like Him coming in a body making him possible to touch and hug (John 1:14); God with us (Matthew 1:23-25); He bore pain and so He intimately knows that pain, not intellectually, but personally from having felt it on the cross. This is a great comfort to us in times of great suffering, to know that when we are vomiting up our toes, going through surgeries, sickness, disease, beatings, and beyond; Christ is there and can fellowship those pains. He can feel your pain because He was subjected to worst kind, a pain we shall only ever be able to imagine and study. That is God we serve, a God who doesn't lecture us on pain, but took pain on Himself willingly, He came to each to feel the aches, and throbbing pain to save us and be close to us and take us when our bodies give in to death, He who holds keys to death and hades (Revelation 1:18) will take us to place with no more tears and pain, "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).
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