Confidantes of the Counselor

Day 38 of Lenten Devotional Series

I knew Jesus felt emotional pain and even wept. I knew He was so overwhelmed at times that He needed to withdraw from the crowds surrounding him. And I knew that He poured out His heart to His Father whenever He was distressed.

But only in recent years did I focus on the fact that His Father was not the only one Jesus spilled his emotions to. He told his close friends, His beloved disciples. Jesus’ agony gushed forth to them in the Garden of Gethsemane before He was arrested on that Thursday night: "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." (Matthew 26:38)

Jesus' humble request for help from friends doesn't sound like a person pridefully determined to carry his burdens on his own. His honest vulnerability doesn't sound like someone who is afraid of others’ opinions or who cautiously disguises His feelings.

This sinless Jesus bared His heart to friends with sinful human hearts.  The Son of the Creator confided in the weak, erring mortals His Father had created. Although Jesus had been prophesied as "The Wonderful Counselor" (Isaiah 9:6), here He is the one overwhelmed with grief and leaning on others.

The Son of God didn't try to walk through this life without inviting others into His hardships with Him, showing us that we aren't meant to struggle alone. He came to heal broken hearts, yet also shared with us the sorrow in His.

Isaiah 53:3
He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held