Finding Jesus in Grief: Hope After Infant Loss and MiscarriageUzorak

Jesus Felt Grief

He was . . . acquainted with grief. (v. 3)

Reflecting on Jesus’ sorrowful heart in the garden of Gethsemane may provide pause for you to ponder the emotional experience of Jesus, perhaps for the first time. For years, I imagined Jesus as a happy, peace-loving hippie. This was reinforced by the positivity of the worship songs I heard on Christian radio and the smiling faces I encountered every Sunday at church. This caused me to make assumptions like “maybe hard emotions weren’t part of Jesus’ experience” and “I can bring my joy to God, but I need to find another place for my hurt and pain.” We are constantly forming an understanding of who we think Jesus is. As I walked through my miscarriage grief, I soon realized Jesus of Nazareth was not distant from my pain. In fact, the suffering servant was nearer than I knew.

The prophet Isaiah paints a fascinating portrait of Jesus, Israel’s long-awaited Messiah. In sobering detail, Jesus is described as “a man of sorrows” and “acquainted with grief” (v. 3). Another translation tells us Jesus is “familiar with pain” (NIV). Of all the ways Jesus could be described, Isaiah chooses to highlight these particularly painful aspects of Jesus’ emotional experience. When we begin to understand that Jesus is not a stranger to grief, pain, and sorrow, we find a gentle invitation to bring our own grief, pain, and sorrow to him. Jesus not only understands your pain out of firsthand experience, he welcomes your feelings of grief and lament.

As you pray, mourn with Jesus over your shared experiences of grief, sorrow, and pain.