Chapter 7 (Christian Arrives at the Wicket Gate) of my book "Pilgrim's Progress in Today's World and Today's Language"
poignantly describes Jesus
"Goodwill was actually Jesus, but Christian didn't recognize Him (John 20:14). Goodwill looked very sad and had tears in his eyes. He was a man without sin He hated sin more than anything, but had lived in a world saturated in sin (Romans 1:18-27).Ultimately, he had taken responsibility for all that sin and taken the punishment for it on the cross (1 John 2:2). But seeing so much sin in all the people still living in the world had made Him sad (Luke 19:41-44). So it was impossible for Him to laugh. He knew that unless these people accepted Him as Lord and Savior, they would go to hell (John 14:6). He is the only one who had ever experienced this punishment and knew how horrifying it was (2 Corinthians 5:21). But if they didn't accept Him, the punishment He took to save them couldn't help them."
I personally never thought of this aspect of Jesus' sadness. I knew He was sad because the world rejected Him (John 1:10-11). I knew He was sad because He saw all the sin around Him and how it made the people suffer. I also knew He was sad because He and His Father loved people so much, but the people didn't love Them.
Have you ever thought of this as one of the reasons for Jesus' sadness? Does this reason for His sadness help you to know and understand God better? Did you ever make a significant sacrifice to give some one something valuable without them appreciating it or worse not appreciate a valuable gift some one else gave to you? What did you learn from the experience. Please share your thoughts.
My prayer is that when you read Pilgrim's Progress Today, you don't approach it with a critical spirit. Instead that you come with your heart opened by God so you can hear anything that the Holy Spirit wants to say to you through Pilgrim's Progress Today. My writings are only an intermediary between you, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. In my best case scenario, God through His sovereign choice, leads you to Pilgrim's Progress Today because the Holy Spirit has a special message for you. For all I know, the special message might not have anything to do with what I've written.
I personally never thought of this aspect of Jesus' sadness. I knew He was sad because the world rejected Him (John 1:10-11). I knew He was sad because He saw all the sin around Him and how it made the people suffer. I also knew He was sad because He and His Father loved people so much, but the people didn't love Them.
Have you ever thought of this as one of the reasons for Jesus' sadness? Does this reason for His sadness help you to know and understand God better? Did you ever make a significant sacrifice to give some one something valuable without them appreciating it or worse not appreciate a valuable gift some one else gave to you? What did you learn from the experience. Please share your thoughts.
My prayer is that when you read Pilgrim's Progress Today, you don't approach it with a critical spirit. Instead that you come with your heart opened by God so you can hear anything that the Holy Spirit wants to say to you through Pilgrim's Progress Today. My writings are only an intermediary between you, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. In my best case scenario, God through His sovereign choice, leads you to Pilgrim's Progress Today because the Holy Spirit has a special message for you. For all I know, the special message might not have anything to do with what I've written.
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Pilgrim's Progress Today believes every Christian is given unique spiritual gifts and wisdom through the power of the Holy Spirit to perform specific tasks to fulfill God's purposes . We welcome comments that are spoken in Truth and Love that help build up the Body of Christ.
"Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." (Ephesians 4:15-16)
We also welcome comments from non-believers on the condition that they are written in a respectful and courteous manner.