The One of Sorrows

Talitha Arnold

He was despised and rejected of [others], a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. - Isaiah 53:3a (KJV)

 

What is your acquaintance with grief?

 

What deaths have you known—of a loved one, a dream, or a hope?

 

What grief do you carry for others—or for this world?

 

What sorrows have you brought this year to Good Friday?

 

I invite you to pause with these questions, or even just one of them. Stop reading for a moment, and reflect. How are you acquainted with grief?

  

As a preacher, my job (and my temptation) is to expound on the day’s scripture—to put a passage into context, explain its history and bring it into the present day.

 

But sometimes the scripture asks me just to sit with it and to let others do the same. Truth is, as a pastor, I don’t know what many of the people I serve will bring with them to today’s Good Friday service. Nor do I know, good reader, what sorrow or heartache you bear as you read this reflection.

 

What I do know is that none of us bears our sorrow alone. The One who calls us to this day is the One who was—and is—acquainted with grief. The One who let his heart be broken, by his friends and by this world. The One of Sorrows, who surely carries ours.

 

Prayer

Holy One of Sorrows, thank you for this day. Amen.