In This Together

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15

Sympathize – You read Greek!  Isn’t that great?  This word is really a Greek word.  We’ve just changed a bit of the phonetics, but the structure of the word itself still contains its Greek design.  It is syn-pathos, together with suffering or misfortune.  We often think of sympathy in terms of emotions.  We focus on the common feelings because we really don’t share the same circumstances.  Every individual experiences suffering and misfortune privately.  That is to say, no two people have exactly the same experience of life’s events even if they share the same circumstances.  So, sympathy for us means sharing similar feelings.  If you lose your job, I can sympathize because I have lost a job too (but I didn’t lose your job).  However, if you think about this verse in these terms, you will miss the deepest truth here.  Yeshua does not sympathize with us in the same way that we sympathize with another.

What’s the difference?  Yeshua shares our experience.  He doesn’t share an experience similar to ours.  He shares our exact experience.  In fact, He is the only one able to understand exactly what we are experiencing because He knows everything we feel, do, think and say.  This is divine sympathy.  It goes much deeper than any human similarity.  This is sympathy at the core of my being.

Once we realize Yeshua’s ability to sympathize with us touches everything about us, we are able to absorb the next part of this verse.  Notice that He sympathizes with our weaknesses.  The word is very illuminating.  Most often it is about sickness.  Of course, from a Hebrew perspective, sickness is not merely physical infirmity.  Sickness involves the whole person.  So, my weaknesses may be emotional, physical, psychological or spiritual (if you will allow the distinctions).  No matter how we categorize them, they are holistic attacks on the person.  Weaknesses are the opposite of power.  My experience of weakness is an experience of the lack of power in my life.  Yeshua knows all about the personal and private areas of my life where I lack power.  He suffers with me in exactly those areas where I suffer most.

Christians often focus their attention on the apologetic nature of this verse.  We use it to justify Yeshua’s sinlessness.  We focus our attention on the last few words.  But the immediate strength of this verse is the declaration that Yeshua suffers with us!  He is not a stranger to our weaknesses.  He is not separated from our greatest struggles.  He is in it with us.  Today we may need to hear this message loud and clear.  We are not alone.  With Yeshua, we do not even experience the private separation that exists in the individual uniqueness of every human being.  At the core of our existence, He is there.  Where we hurt the most, He is there.  Where our lives are but fragments of hope and despair, He is there.  Where no other can find us, He already has.

Topical Index: sympathize, sumpatheo, weakness, Hebrews 4:15