By H. Lynn Gardner
Jesus shared flesh and blood with us.
Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted (Hebrews 2:17, 18)*.
Timothy Keller explains, in The Reason for God,
Christianity alone among the world religions claims that God became uniquely and fully human in Jesus Christ and therefore knows firsthand despair, rejection, loneliness, poverty, bereavement, torture, and imprisonment. On the cross he went beyond even the worst human suffering and experienced cosmic rejection and pain that exceeds ours as infinitely as his knowledge and power exceeds ours.
Because Jesus suffered in the flesh, we have a high priest and advocate who can sympathize with us in our weaknesses and sufferings. We do not come to the table as perfect people. We often come hurting, rejected, struggling, suffering, and sinful.
Our God is not cold, distant, and unfeeling. On the cross he suffered in love, identifying with us in our human situation. He is approachable, caring, and compassionate. While Jesus did not succumb to sin, he did feel the full power of temptation. He experienced the gamut of suffering. He knows what it feels like to hurt both physically and emotionally.
We come to the Lord”s table as persons saved by grace, but strugglers with temptation and sin. Our Lord understands and is our sympathetic high priest.
To those troubled with the question, “Why does God let me suffer?” Paul reminds us, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). Keller says, “He had to pay for our sins so that someday he can end evil and suffering without ending us.”
Our heavenly Father suffers when we suffer. He cares for us and asks that we cast our cares on him. We may never know why we experience a specific suffering. But in the light of Christ”s suffering and death on the cross, we should never doubt his love and care for us.
As we gather at his table, our caring host sympathizes with our personal challenges. We need to share our hurts and challenges and confess the sin in our lives. We need to affirm our trust, commitment, and love to him, knowing he is with us even in our worst sufferings.
Communion can be a time of repentance from sin, inner cleansing, renewal of our spirit, and reassurance of God”s personal love and compassion for us.
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*Scripture quotations are from the English Standard Version of the Bible.
For  information about H. Lynn Gardner’s  book Where Is God When We Suffer?, visit www.lynngardner.info.Â
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