There a lots of titles used in reference to God. Some make sense, others need a bit if thinking about. This one was used in a prater recently and comes in the latter category. Jesus, Pain-Bearer.
It seemed an odd title. I still feel hurt, no one else bears it for me. I was reminded of a conversation with my mum many years ago complaining that a medicine wasn’t doing any good. I don’t remember whether it was a pain killer or something for cold and flu, but I know I still had the symptoms. My mum’s response was, “you don’t know how much worse it would have been without the medication.”
So I wonder if Jesus is someone who bears the brunt of the pain, the worst of it. He hung on the cross in agony in every way. I wonder if, without him, the pain would be worse. The physical pain maybe, but more the emotional pain and the mental pain that comes from normal circumstances like disappointments or thoughtlessness. I wonder if Jesus bears the worst and only lets through a snippet of the pain that might feel bad at times but is actually a lot more manageable than it would be without Jesus. I wonder if Jesus doesn’t stop all the pain because we need pain to know that we are hurt and then to heal.
If we don’t give those hurts a chance to heal the chances are we pass it forward in our words and behaviour, so feeling pain alerts us to things we need to deal with. But pain is not meant to overwhelm us or incapacitate us. Jesus died so it wouldn’t. So I wonder if Jesus, Pain-Bearer is actually blocking more pain than we realise but also letting us feel enough that we can heal. And I wonder if Jesus knows how painful it is so also stays with us and holds us in that pain. I wonder if Jesus patiently sits as a calm presence through anger, frustration, fear and grief, the one who sees all tears a gently holds us knowing that it’s better for us to feel a little pain even if we don’t realise it at the time. I wonder how much Jesus does that we don’t even realise and probably never will.
I wonder if Pain-Bearer was a better title than I could ever have imagined. And I wonder if I haven’t said, “Thank you” enough.
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