He Knew

We’re now four weeks through Lent. Do your daily crosses feel heavy as mine do? Are you leaning on Jesus, handing over your burdens to Him and journeying with Him? Do you trust that Jesus knows the crosses you bear, because He already bore them in His life?

In today’s Gospel, we hear the end of a story. Leading up to what we read, the Jews had been celebrating the feast of Tabernacles. Midway through the feast, Jesus entered the temple area to teach. I imagine Him pouring out His heart and soul. The people listening couldn’t agree when they considered Jesus and His words. Imagine the chatter, the sideways glances . . . the division among the people, some who want to arrest Jesus. Can you imagine the ache of rejection?

I’m starting to understand how Jesus knew real pain and rejection even before the Crucifixion. He knew what it felt to be misunderstood and outcast. He knew. He knows everything. He also probably overheard the whispers, the grumbles, the arguments. And like the words of the Prophet Jeremiah, words which foreshadowed Jesus’ suffering, He “knew their plot” against Him.

Perhaps Jesus prayed the words of today’s Psalm when He felt the sting of the Pharisees plotting His arrest. We know Jesus often sought solitude to pray. Did He have these words of the Psalm—“O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge”—constantly on His lips and in His heart?

Surely Jesus took refuge in His Father, and entrusted His daily crosses to the Father who set the path before Him. He bore the same crosses—rejection, loneliness, pain, sorrow—that we also bear. Trust in Him to help you carry your burden, sister. Lean on Him. Entrust your heart and soul to the Lord, and take refuge in Him.

Trust in Him to help you carry your burden, sister. Click to tweet