Tender Compassion

Wesley Grubb • Nov 01, 2023

GOD's Tender Compassion

The biblical nation of Israel (which is not the same as the modern nation of Israel today) was destroyed by Roman legions in the 1st century. The scale of the slaughter of the Jewish people in that war was astronomical. Tens of thousands perished, and thousands more were exiled. Jerusalem was pulverized, the Second Temple obliterated, and the land put to the sword and the flame. The brutality of the Romans was unmatched, and the loss of the temple has left a permanent scar on the Jewish soul. There is a Jewish holyday that is dedicated to remembering and mourning those tragic events. The Rabbis believed those events also left a permanent scar on God’s soul as well.

The other day I was reading a passage in the Talmud, the holiest book in Judaism after the Old Testament. In that passage, the Rabbis are discussing how God spends his day. There are twelve hours in the daytime, they said, so what does God do with those hours? Here is what they concluded. God breaks up those twelve hours into four quarters. In the first quarter, God occupies himself with the Torah (the Law of Moses). Apparently, God reads and studies his own word three hours a day! In the second quarter, God sits in judgment over the world. In the third quarter, God provides the world with food. In the fourth quarter, he plays with Leviathan (see Psalm 104:26). Leviathan is a mythical creature in the Old Testament. In other words, God ends his day by playing with his pet, laughing and enjoying himself. But, the Rabbis taught, this changed when the Romans destroyed the Temple and massacred the Jewish people. God no longer plays with Leviathan, they said, meaning God no longer laughs. All his laughter has been turned to mourning by the memory of what happened to his people. He has a permanent scar on his soul, and he will never laugh again, the Rabbis say, until the day the Messiah comes.

If God no longer laughs and no longer plays with Leviathan in the fourth quarter, what does he do? This is their answer. God sits with the little Jewish children who were slaughtered by the Romans, and he teaches them. When I read that, it took my breath away. My imagination is vivid enough to picture it: God sitting on the floor with these precious little ones at the end of every day, teaching them who he is, showing them how much he loves them, his heart turned from laughter to sadness because he cares about them so deeply and grieves for their suffering. It is a stirring image of God’s tender compassion. The Rabbis do not mean it literally. They are trying to teach theology through parables, just like Rabbi Jesus (Luke 18:15-17). They want to drive home the fact that God remembers his people, remembers our suffering, carries our grief in his own heart, and cares about the loved ones we have lost (see 1 Peter 5:6-11).

I believe God still cares for the Jewish people (Rom. 11:28-29). I believe his tender compassion still runs deep in his heart when Jews are slaughtered. On October 7th, Hamas terrorists massacred 1400 innocent Jews. The horror and evil of that day are sickening. Surely God will sit with those children who were brutally murdered. Laughter turns to mourning. God remembers, and so must we. There is a scar on our souls too. This war is devastating, but we pray for God’s mercy, for peace, and the innocent. May evil be vanquished, and may Israel prevail (Ps. 125:4-5).

Peace and grace,

Pastor Wesley

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A Time for Feasting

By Wesley Grubb • 01 Apr, 2024

With the coming of Spring, the church enters into the joyous season of Easter. During Lent, we traditionally practice the discipline of self-denial. We give up something for Lent. This is an act of fasting for forty days. Easter is the mirror opposite of Lent. Just as we give up something for Lent, we are encouraged to take up something for Easter. Lent is about fasting, but Easter is about feasting. Easter is a forty-day period of celebration and rejoicing. The church greets the new life of Spring bursting forth in the earth by commemorating the glorious morning when our Lord burst forth from his tomb, bringing us eternal life. Here is how the apostle Paul says it: [God] saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:9-10). Here we have the meaning of Easter encapsulated. These are the things we celebrate, and all of them were accomplished and secured for us by Jesus on that first Easter through his resurrection. Our whole salvation is a sovereign work of God . It is not based on our holiness, our works, our purposes, or our merits. We are saved only by God’s purpose and grace, which he ordained to give us in eternity past. God saves us first, and then he calls us to live a holy life. And the way we obtain these gifts is only in union with Christ Jesus in his death and resurrection. As Paul says, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. . . . So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:4, 5, 11). Our ultimate salvation is rescue from death . Being saved means achieving immortality. God’s sovereign purpose and saving grace, which he prepared in eternity and revealed in history, are intended to do for us one day what he did for Jesus on Easter. The symbol of our salvation is not only the cross, but the empty tomb. In his resurrection, Jesus abolished our death and brought us life. Paul says, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Rom. 8:11). Easter is the celebration of Christ’s resurrection in the past and the anticipation of our own resurrection in the future. This is why we take up something for Lent. We do something joyful for others that promotes flourishing and well-being. We add something to our lives that brings more life to ourselves and others. More life, unending life, abundant life—that is what we celebrate, and we give Jesus all the glory. What will you take up this Easter that is life-giving? Make it your aim this Easter to be the kind of person who brings life and joy to the people around you. He is risen! Grace and peace, Pastor Wesley