Tempted And Tested!
"For we do not have a High Priest who
cannot sympathize with our weaknesses,
but was in all points tempted as we are,
yet without sin."
Hebrews 4: 15
Empathize and sympathize are English words that
are sometimes confused. While the
Greek word for
sympathy occurs in the Greek New Testament twice
(Hebrews 4:15; 10:34), the Greek word for empathy
does
not.
In modern terms, sympathize means “to have pity
or sorrow towards
another,” and empathize means
“to understand and share in the feelings of another.”
The meaning of Greek sympathize is more like the
meaning of our modern empathize: to suffer with.
One of the benefits of Immanuel “God with us” as a
fellow human—is Christ’s ability to identify with
our
sufferings, to sympathize with us. “Since he himself
has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to
help us when we are being tested” (Hebrews 2:18,
NLT).
He had to “be made in every respect like us...so
that
he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before
God” (Hebrews 2:17, NLT). Jesus experienced every
pain we experience, “yet without sin.”
When you are tempted or tested,
you are not alone. God is with
you;
He has felt what you are feeling.
"One Son God hath without sin,
but none without sorrow."
John Trapp
