Jesus wept. (John 11:35 ESV)
Compassion
Sympathy has gotten a bad rap, lately. Empathy seems to be more popular and desirable. Sympathy is derided as not REALLY caring. Empathy is praised for being stuck right alongside the sufferers. But perhaps we have misunderstood what those two traits actually are.
Imagine you are stuck in a bog of quicksand. I am an expert on quicksand because of Gilligan’s Island.
You are, of course, sinking. And the more you wriggle and thrash, the further down you are sucked.
And two people offer their hands to help. One stands on the edge. He understands the danger, appreciates the danger, and cares about you. He grabs a coconut tree branch, extends it to you, and pulls you to safety.
The other jumps into the quicksand with you. He, too, understands the danger, appreciates the danger, and cares about you. He is now just as stuck, just is threatened, and just as desperate. He tries to help you out, but ends up sinking right along side you.
The first person has sympathy. He cares, he knows, maybe he has even BEEN there, himself. But he is not encumbered by the quicksand at the moment. Maybe he has other troubles and threats… maybe he is also afraid of something… he is not perfect. But he is helping from a non-quicksand position. He can actually help.
The second person has empathy. He cares, he knows, and maybe he has been here before, too. But while it might feel good to have someone to talk to in the bog, he is just as stuck as you. Stuck without hope.
True sympathy (not a fake, arrogant, superior-attitude type of thing) cares deeply. But is actually able to help.
Jesus has sympathy. He cries for Lazarus, for Lazarus’s family, and for the horror of death.
He understands death. He hates death, ever since Adam’s time. He is about to experience death completely.
But He is not stuck in death.
He weeps in sympathy instead of empathy, and that sympathy is necessary for our salvation.
Rest in His sympathy, whatever quicksand you are sinking in today.