Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. (2 Corinthians 1:3 -4)

One of the tasks of being a Pastor is to see people at the most difficult times of life. In times of death, illness, tragedy, disaster, accidents, and losses of various kinds. It is in these times people face pain, sorrow and grief. This is what we all face in a world where the “wages of sin” is a given. More than once I have held a grieving spouse as the love of their life passed from this life to the next. Or sat with a police officer as we gave the news of a death. Or given the message at the funeral of my family. Grief is real. And we all need comfort.

In Isaiah 53, the coming Messiah is described as “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief,” (Isaiah 53:3 KJV, ESV, NASB) another translation can be “a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.” (NIV) The Messiah would know the pain of mankind; therefore, Jesus did know the pain of mankind. This is evidenced many times in the Gospels, but none more revealing than at the tomb of His friend, Lazarus, when “Jesus wept,” (John 11:35) We know this verse, but often we miss the heart of Jesus. Before He went to the tomb, Scripture records, “When Jesus saw her (Mary) weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.” (John 11:33) Then at the tomb with Martha before he told them to remove the stone, “Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.” (John 11:38) Jesus not only knew His pain, but he felt the pain of others. He was “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” (Isaiah 53:3 ESV)

Jesus is acquainted with grief because God knows grief. Mankind was created out of love. Sin brought evil into the world. Sin brought grief into the heart of God. “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.” (Genesis 6:5-6) Where did God find comfort, when He saw the results of man’s sin? As from the Love within God He created man, comfort came within Himself for Him to face man’s sin. The Apostle Paul says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort.” Comfort comes from the Father. The Apostle John would write, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 2:1) Jesus is called an advocate. This word also means “Comforter.” Our Advocate is our Comforter. The is also the name given to the Holy Spirit by Jesus, ““If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate (Comforter) to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth.” (John 14:15-17) John 14 even begins with words of comfort, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.” (John 14:1) Comfort comes from God because He knows grief and comfort.

God wants to comfort us in this life. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4) He also calls to us by saying, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29) Jesus wants us to connect with Him and find rest, comfort for our souls. As Jesus knows comfort from the Father and the Spirit, He desires to offer comfort to those who come to Him. Comfort is not to be what we hold onto, but something that we share.

This brings us to the passage in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4. In 1 Corinthians, Paul was addressing sin in the church and thus the hope of the Resurrection. In the face of that sin, Paul now comes with forgiveness and reconciliation. He reminds the Church that they ultimately have the job of proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ, which is one of repentance, reconciliation, and restoration. All because we live in a world of sin and death. It is from the compassion of the Father that we are offered comfort. The Father comes to us through Jesus Christ, but we must receive Him and His comfort. When we receive God’s comfort, the Spirit sent from both the Father and the Son, comforts us. Now, we are able to offer comfort to others with the comfort we have received from God.

The reason Jesus was able to offer the Disciples comfort was because of what He was going to do on the cross and by the resurrection. “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:2-3) Real and lasting comfort comes from the defeat of sin and death. This defeat is the result of the cross and the resurrection. Jesus now is the place where we find comfort, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) When we do come to Jesus it opens up all comfort. “For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.” (2 Corinthians 1:5-7)

It is this comfort which helps us face all the difficulties and trials in our lives. There are many of these trials in our lives, it almost seems sometimes we just go from one to another. Yet, it is God who comforts us in them all. The comfort of God gave the Apostle Paul all the confidence He needed to live life because it comes from the heart of God who loves us. Thus, he could write, “Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:34-39) Let the God of all comfort, comfort your heart today and every day.

In the Love of Jesus,

Michael Block