The title of the message today is, The Man of Sorrows Knows Our Griefs. Isaiah 53, verse 3 and 4 says, He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. and we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. Lord God, we do thank you again for being able to come and worship you, God, in freedom. Lord, help us to not take it lightly. Help us to not take your word lightly. God, to really take heed to these truths that you are telling us, God, that you've given to us sinful men. Lord, help us to just take heed to thy word now. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. So today we're gonna look at our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, from the perspective of his humanity, and how in his humanity, our Savior knows what it is to feel loss, to feel grief, to feel troubled, and he knows those feelings at levels we cannot even begin to comprehend. But first, let's briefly review the deity of our Lord and Savior. As Christians, we know that Jesus is God himself, manifest in the flesh. 1 Timothy 3, 16 says, and without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. So who was it that was preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received in the glory? It was Jesus Christ, of course. So Jesus was God manifest in the flesh. Now the Joseph Smith cult, who call themselves Mormons, and the Russellite cult, who falsely call themselves Jehovah's Witnesses, do not believe that Jesus Christ is God. But we have the Word of God. When you read or hear your King James Bible, it is God himself speaking. No other book or man on the face of this earth can stand against the majestic truth that is contained in the living words of the living God. When anyone or anything contradicts the Word of God, we can safely disregard what is said as being false. Incidentally, take note of that verse in 1 Timothy 3, 16 about Jesus being God manifest in the flesh. There are many out there, even many believers, that do not understand what the Word of God is. They have no idea that the Bible has been and still is perfectly preserved, holy and without error. Psalms 119 verse 160 says, Thy word is true from the beginning and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever. Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible. It is about the Word of God. Almost every verse uses a synonym for the Word of God. Words and phrases like statutes, judgments, precepts, thy word, thy law, thy commandments, thy words, et cetera. We are doing the Bible reading challenge this month. I suggest every one of us take time this month to read Psalms 119 so that we have a greater understanding of and appreciation for what the Bible God has given to us is, and that he has preserved it for us to this very day. Now, the King James Bible says, Every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever. Every one of them. Every one includes 1 Timothy 3.16. Consider this verse in one of the many false, corrupt, counterfeit Bible translations, the ESV. Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness. He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. Do you see the difference? It's subtle, but devastating. Instead of saying God was manifest in the flesh, it says He was manifest in the flesh. The question is, who is He? Well if you read the passage, the nearest antecedent would be a couple of verses back where it references Jesus Christ. So this Bible version is saying that Jesus appeared in the flesh. This is true as far as it goes. We know these verses are about Jesus, but what it does not say is that God was manifest in the flesh. If the Bible says God is manifest in the flesh, in a passage that is talking about Jesus, it proves Jesus is God Almighty. But when this fake Bible says He, that is Jesus, was manifest in the flesh, it is telling us nothing about the deity of Christ. Any good Mormon or Russellite will agree that Jesus was manifest in the flesh, and they believe that it's amazing that a created angel or spirit being, like they say Jesus is, became a man. In the ESV, our verse that proved the deity of Christ did not endure It fell away. We can safely reject all these imposter Bibles, knowing that our powerful King James Bible will never pass away. Not a single word of it. As our Lord said in Matthew 24, 35, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away. Just think about it, how secure this earth seems and how secure the heavens seem, but that those will pass away and God's word won't. That's how secure our word is that we have from our Lord. So now back to the deity of Christ. Jesus Christ was fully God. The Bible plainly tells us Jesus is fully God and he manifested attributes of deity. He manifested that he knew all things. He predicted his own death and resurrection. In Matthew 16, verse 21, it says, Another evidence of our Lord's Godhead is that he was in existence before Abraham was, and referred to himself by a name of the Father. We read about this name in Exodus. Before Moses led the children of Israel out of captivity in Egypt, he was questioning God about his name. This is what happened. In Exodus 3, verse 13, And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and they shall say to me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I am that I am. And he said, thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I am, hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you. This is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. God's name, at least one of them prominently mentioned in Exodus, was I am. Why is God's name I Am? What this shows is how God is not some deistic God who just wound up his universe and went and hid in a corner somewhere. It shows us that God is. He's here right now. He's everywhere. He's every when. The Bible says he is eternal. This name, I Am, shows us that our God is not like Baal, or Jupiter, or Diana, or any of the other false gods that were limited in their powers and attributes, that were limited in time and space. Our God is the great I am, and he still is today. With this context, consider now how Jesus spoke to the Jews about Abraham and what Jesus claimed of himself. In John 8, starting in verse 56, it says, your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. That was Jesus speaking. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him. But Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. Notice the Jews tried to stone Jesus to death because he claimed to be the great I Am, the Almighty God. They would have been right to regard this as blasphemy if this claim was made by anyone other than Jesus Christ. He is the one man that can make that claim because Jesus Christ is very God. When Jesus claimed to be the I am, he was claiming that he was God without a beginning. He is and always was. As this prophecy of our Lord says, He did not have a beginning but was from everlasting. In Micah 5 verse 2 it says, And likewise, He will continue forever. Hebrews 13 says, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever. This is because the Lord Jesus Christ has an endless life. In Hebrews 7 verse 15 it says, Now there's so much more that can be said about the deity of Christ But we can say with the centurion who witnessed the death of Jesus on the cross in Matthew 27, 54, it says, now when the centurion and they that were with him watching Jesus saw the earthquake and those things that were done, they feared greatly saying, truly this was the Son of God. The Son of God, that title refers to his deity. But today I wanna talk about Jesus not so much as the Son of God, but as the son of man. When the Bible refers to Jesus as the son of man, it is referring to his humanity. Sometimes, in our conception of Jesus as God, and our worship of him as such, we forget that he is also a man. Though he was without sin, he was every bit a man, as you or I are. Notice I just said that you and I are men. That includes you women. You are men also, in a sense. No, I'm obviously not promoting the grievous calamity, which is transgenderism. I'm simply speaking in a patriarchal manner. The Bible speaks this way all the time. For instance, Hebrews 9, verse 27, it says, and as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this to judgment. Does anyone think that women are not going to die or face the judgment because it said it's appointed unto men once to die? That's ridiculous. The Bible simply considers men and women to both be part of mankind. God has chosen not to cater to this politically correct, woke, and pathetically weak ideology that must always say he or she, him or her, to avoid committing a microaggression, so-called, against someone. So when at times I use the masculine pronoun in a general way, It does not automatically mean I'm excluding women. It doesn't mean I'm ignoring them or thinking any less of them. It just means I'm speaking the way I have learned from God in his holy word. But back to Jesus Christ as the son of man. It starts with his entry into this world. He entered the same way we all did. He was born. His conception was different and that his mother was with child of the Holy Ghost instead of from her husband Joseph. Just as another quick aside, many people in the political realm seem to be in a kind of moral retreat regarding the issue of abortion. They seem to be afraid that elections might be lost if they oppose abortion. But the Bible still has something to say right now, today about abortion. In Ecclesiastes 11, verse 5, it says, Notice the Bible, in our wholly preserved Word of God, does not call a woman pregnant. The Bible is much more explicit. It says a woman is with child. At the moment of conception, a woman is with child. The world loves to use clinical terms to describe the child. Zygote, embryo, fetus, whatever utility these words might have in a clinical setting, that's not why the promoters of death use these words. They use these words because they are dehumanizing. The birth control pills made it so the zygote didn't implant. This conceals what is really happening. which in a more honest rendering would be this. We gave the woman this poison pill to try to prevent a baby from developing because we don't believe God said to be fruitful and multiply, and we aren't married anyway but are living in fornication so we don't want children. And this poison damaged the lining of the womb of the mother who was with child, so the tiny child was flushed out of the womb and died instead of growing and developing and being born. That is what can happen just from using the poison pills that they call birth control. I won't describe right now, in graphic detail, what happens when a surgical abortion is performed, or a chemical abortion is performed. It's not something we'd want to even hear. But suffice it to say, abortion itself is a dehumanizing word, when used of a deliberate attempt to end the life of a child. And the fruit of the womb is a child. Again, the Bible calls it that, and the word of God is perfect and without error. And the deliberate killing of a child is called murder. Abortion, then, is murder. This is what our Lord Jesus Christ says today about abortion. In Luke 17, verse 2, he says, The little ones in this verse are little children. Offending means to cause them to stumble, to harm them in some way spiritually. If offending a little child causes such a horrible end that is worse than being drowned in the ocean, what do you think the Lord will do to him that kills a child in a womb, the littlest of the little ones, and the most innocent of all? But again, let's go back to the humanity of Jesus. He started his life like we all did, by being born. In Luke 2, starting in verse 4, it says, And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. and she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. So the birth of our Lord was not rich or noble in terms of material wealth, but more importantly it was a human birth. Jesus manifested the limitations of a man when he was born. Consider this Old Testament prophecy of Jesus. In Isaiah 7, 14-16 it says, Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that thou uphorst shall be forsaken of both her kings. Now there's a duality to this prophecy. It appears that the last verse does not apply to our Lord. But leaving that aside, notice that the Lord has to eat to grow. Just like us, he needed to eat. And notice that when he was an infant, he did not know how to refuse evil or choose good. He had to grow old enough before he had the maturity of mind to comprehend what sin is. We see a similar concept demonstrated when our Lord was 12 years old. In Luke 2, starting in verse 41, it says, And when he, that is Jesus, was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem, and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey, and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. Just to stop for a second, I don't know if we have anyone here that's 12, but some of you have been 12 not that long ago. Look at what our Lord Jesus Christ was doing when he was 12. He was interested. in things of the Bible. He was interested in things of God and he was interested in sitting around talking to the adults that knew most about those things. So it's good to consider that. All of us should consider where our desires and our interests lie. Our Lord Jesus Christ at 12, that's where his interests lied. So Going back to this verse, it says, it came to pass that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed. And his mother said unto him, son, why hast thou dealt with us? Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, how is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my father's business? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject unto them. But his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. Pay attention especially now to this last verse. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. Jesus was the Son of God. He was divine. He also was sinless. But nevertheless, he grew in wisdom and stature. He had a natural human mind like we did, that at 12 years of age, needed to still grow. And even when Jesus was full grown, notice that he became hungry. In Matthew 21, 18, now in the morning, as he returned unto the city, he hungered. Our Lord also got tired and thirsty. In John 4, verse six and seven, it says, now Jacob's well was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well, and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, give me to drink. I'm pointing these things out so that we remember that Jesus is not just God. He also came as a man. And as a man, he had human frailties and weakness like we do. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 13, 4, for though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you. Why is it important to remember this? Well, when we think of Jesus as God, It is a good thing. We can understand that He has the power He needs to help us, and as God, He has the goodness to want to help us. But if we only consider Jesus as God, we might not really understand how much empathy He actually has for us. We might misunderstand the depths of His suffering by saying, well of course He can handle all matter of trouble, for He's God, Consider one of the verses we opened with. In Isaiah 53, verse three, it said, again, Jesus is so acquainted with grief that he is said to be a man of sorrows. Some of Jesus' sorrows occurred as a child or a young man. Remember that passage we read about Joseph when Jesus was 12? That's the last time we hear about Joseph. We know Joseph was a just man. In Matthew 1, 19, it says, then Joseph, her husband, being a just man. And we know he was gone by the time of Jesus's crucifixion. In John 19, verse 25, it says, now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, that would be John, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son. Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother. And from that hour, that disciple took her unto his own home. The fact that Jesus gave his mother into the care of John, as Jesus was about to die and be gone, shows that Joseph was gone. We know this also from Matthew 12, starting in verse 46, it says, But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples and said, Behold, my mother and my brethren, for whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and mother. Notice Joseph was nowhere to be found at that time either. And in Mark 6, verse 2 and 3, it says, And when the Sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? And what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joseph, and of Judah and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us? and they were offended at him. Notice again that no mention was made here of Joseph. It makes sense that Jesus was called the carpenter because he had been a carpenter until he began his ministry at the age of 30 because his stepfather, who also was a carpenter, apparently was dead. So he was called the carpenter here instead of his brethren because either they didn't take up the family business or because he was the oldest. So he took his stepfather's place as the head carpenter, so to speak. And then in this parallel passage, instead of calling Jesus the carpenter, they call him the carpenter's son. In Matthew 13, it says, when he was coming to his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, inasmuch that they were astonished and said, whence hath this man this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son? Is this not his mother, called Mary, and his brethren, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas, and his sisters? Are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? Here they named the sons and the mother, but not Joseph. It appears to be pointing out who Jesus' father had been but didn't use his name like it did for the mother and brethren because he had been dead by that time and was probably somewhat forgotten apparently as it probably happened a while before this. There's no good way I can see to explain all these details without Joseph being dead. I suppose Joseph technically could have abandoned Mary or something. But there's no cause to assume ill of Joseph. The Bible said he was a just man. It appears that he had died by this point. So what is it like to have a father die? Mother, grandfather, grandmother, husband, a wife, a brother, a sister, God forbid, a child? Especially when we're still quite young. Too many of us here might know this from experience. But Jesus apparently knew what it was like to have his earthly beloved stepfather die. We'll have more to say on this, but first let's consider another death of one of Jesus' friends. Reading parts of John 11, starting at verse 14 it says, Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there to the intent that ye may believe. Nevertheless, let us go unto him. It then goes on in verse 20. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him. But Mary sat still in the house. Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou had been here, my brother had not died. But I know that even now whatsoever thou will ask of God, God will give it thee. Now consider this faith of Martha. Martha sometimes gets a bad rap because of another story where she's cumbered about with much serving. But Martha here has so much faith that she trusts that Jesus could ask God and have Lazarus raised from the dead right then and there. But the passage goes on and says, Jesus saith unto her, thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? She saith unto him, yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. And when she had so said, she went her way and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master has come and calleth for thee. As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came unto him. Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him. The Jews then, which were with her in the house, and comforted her when they saw Mary, that rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there. Then when Mary was come where Jesus was and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled. So notice the humanity of Jesus. He saw his weeping friend Mary, and it troubled him. It goes on in verse 34, and said, where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. That's the shortest verse in the Bible, but one of the most powerful. Here was Jesus who had just said he was the resurrection and the life, feeling the grief of those around him and weeping over a dead friend. It goes on, then said the Jews, behold how he loved him. And some of them said, could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? Jesus, therefore, again groaning in himself, cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh, for he hath been dead four days. Jesus saith unto her, said I not unto thee, that if thou wouldest believe thou shouldest see the glory of God? Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always. But because of the people which stand by, I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him." So Jesus, being, as he said, the resurrection and the life, brought this man, Lazarus, Lazarus, Lazarus, to life. We don't get a description of it here, But imagine the joy, the inconceivable almost amount of joy Mary and Martha and everyone else must have felt when Lazarus was brought to life. And even though Jesus had the power to resurrect Lazarus, and even though he knew he was going to do it, that did not stop the great sorrow he felt when he saw that his friend had died. So consider now again Jesus and Joseph. If he died, how that must have grieved him so, especially if it happened when he was still a child. And it's not like he was at a very young age where he would just forget about his stepfather and the pain would quickly recede. No, he was old enough to experience a full measure of pain. And imagine the pain of Mary being left without a husband. If it troubled Jesus that his friend Mary grieved over Lazarus, how much more his own mother Mary's grief over Joseph. Again, it does not say explicitly that Joseph died, but it sure seems apparent that he did. And why would Jesus, if he is the resurrection and life, and has the power to raise from the dead, why didn't he raise up his stepfather Joseph when he died? After all, when Jesus raised Lazarus, he said this, Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid, and Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me, and I knew that thou hearest me always, but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. Jesus knew that God always heard him in prayer. Jesus prayed that Lazarus would be raised, and he was. So why not Joseph? Why not heal him before he died, or raise him up afterwards? The answer is, Jesus was a man, and as a man, he submitted to the will of God, the Father. Jesus' prayers were always heard, but Jesus ultimately always prayed in the will of God. It must not have been the will of the Father that Joseph lived. We can see the Lord's human desire struggling to conform to the divine will in the Garden of Gethsemane when he was about to bear all of our sins on the cross. Our Lord succeeded in conforming himself to the divine will, but it was through enormous pain. Luke 22 says, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly. And his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. As an aside, as we do this Bible challenge, you'll notice the more you read your Bible, the more of a blessing the hymns that we sing will become. Pay close attention to the words when we sing. The old hymns are filled with scriptural references. Like here, it was For me it was in the garden he prayed, not my will but thine. He had no tears for his own griefs, but sweat drops of blood for mine. How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me. Now this event in the garden was so important that it was recorded multiple times in the scriptures. And there's things that we could gain from looking at this in the other passages as well. Consider Mark 14, verse 33. talking about Jesus, and he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy, and saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death, tarry ye here and watch. And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. Of course, that's the hour of his death, his crucifixion. And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee. Take away this cup from me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what thou wilt. And he cometh and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldst not thou watch one hour? Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. And again he went away, and prayed, and spake the same words. And when he returned, he found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. Neither wist they what to answer him. And he cometh the third time, and saith unto them, sleep on now, and take your rest. It is enough, the hour is come. Behold, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise up, let us go. Lo, he that betrayeth me is at hand. Notice that Jesus prayed multiple times that the cup would be taken away from him. Again, the cup is the cup of the wrath of God that our Lord had to drink by dying on the cross and paying for our sins. But he only prayed that God would take it away if it was God's will to take it away. Jesus knew it was God's will that he die on the cross. But nevertheless, as the son of man, he felt the awful weight of that burden and wanted relief, if it were in any way possible. Let's read Matthew's telling of the event. In Matthew 26, verse 38, it says, Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. Tarry ye here and watch with me. And he went a little farther and fell on his face and prayed, saying, O my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could you not watch with me one hour? So Jesus rebukes Peter for not praying for a single hour. What does he say to us if we can't do 20 minutes? Sweet one-third hour of prayer. Sweet one-third hour of prayer. Is that how the song goes? But in any case, it goes on and says, Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time and prayed, saying, O my father, if this cup may not pass away from me except I drink it, thy will be done. And he came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. And he left them and went away again and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Now, after considering the Garden of Gethsemane, we need to understand that Jesus, in one sense, could have chosen to not submit to the death on the cross. We can see that by just reading a few verses down. After Jesus was betrayed by Judas, and Peter cut off a man's ear with a sword while defending Jesus, and after which, amazingly, in the midst of such a difficult trial, Jesus shows compassion and heals the man's ear, We then see that Jesus still could have avoided the cross. On Matthew 26, verse 52, it says, Then Jesus said unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place, for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be? So even then, after the garden, Jesus could have prayed, and the Father would have given him many angels. Even one of which, as we read in the Old Testament, could kill 185,000 soldiers all by himself. These angels could have effectuated Jesus' escape a thousand times better than Peter's sword. And he could have asked for that, and it says here that God would have given it to him. But Jesus, in his love for us and wanting to fulfill scripture, chose to die. In Philippians 2, verse 6, it says, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, that means he was God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. It was Jesus Christ's choice to die on the cross. I won't explain it now, but this verse also provides proof of the deity of Christ and is botched in the modern perversions. But now considering all of this, let's visit the idea of Joseph dying one more time. Just like Jesus could not escape his death on the cross because of God's will, Joseph's apparent death also could not be avoided apparently also because of God's will. But our Lord Jesus still had the power to stop it, as he was surely the resurrection and the life before he began his public ministry as he was after he began. But to be in God's will, Jesus apparently had to choose to not save his own stepfather's life. Our Lord Jesus truly is a man of sorrows in ways that are almost inconceivable to us. Imagine that you knew you could heal your parent or your child from death. but then knew you should choose not to be so and to not do it so that you could be in God's will. What a weight that would be. What a heavy burden. This is the kind of burden our Lord had to bear. I gave this specific example of Joseph to help make what Jesus did for us real. Jesus bore all the sins of the world on the cross. He felt the pain and anguish of everyone everywhere that ever died. He bore all of our sins himself as God the Father turned away from him. In one sense, Jesus doesn't want anyone to die, this is clear. In 2 Peter 3 it says the Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And Jesus had and has the power to save from death, yet people still died while he walked the earth, as they do now. But just saying all of this in the abstract might not help us to see how Jesus personally suffered like he did with the example of Joseph, and exactly how he was a man of sorrows, and how he was acquainted with grief in such an intimate way. I'm saying this to help us understand that Jesus understands our griefs, our tears. He cares about us. We might have loved ones that Jesus does not heal and instead lets them die. But Jesus himself knows how it feels. He had to let his own stepfather die instead of healing him. In Hebrews 4, verse 14 to 16, the Bible says, seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Jesus felt our infirmities, so we need to come boldly to Him in prayer so we can find mercy. He will answer all our prayers. He will either heal those for which we ask healing, He'll deliver us from our trials when we ask Him to, or He'll say no. No, not now. And He'll have good reasons to, even if we don't understand them. But if he does say no, he will still give us grace to help us get through our trials and our time of need, because he knows how it feels, and he cares for us. As the Bible says in 1 Peter 5, humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. Lord God, we do thank you for being the man of sorrows. We thank you for experiencing and knowing how it feels for those you love to die, for trials to come, and there's seemingly no way out of them. God, we thank you for dying for our sins, for being our high priest that we can come to with all of our cares, And Lord, we do know that you care for us. Please help us to remember that, Lord, in these last evil days in which we live. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.