The Sighs of Jesus

The Sighs of Jesus

Paul, Robert, and Liz continue their conversation about Jesus in his passion, considering what his sighs teach us about being human.

“A sigh says so much. We know from Romans 8 that the Spirit himself 'intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words' (Romans 8:26). A sigh, or a groan, expresses things that words can't quite capture. There are two ways we encounter the impact of fall all the time: one is sin and the other one is death. Sin is the moral face of evil, and death, the physical.”

“Jesus’ sigh is a hybrid of frustration and sadness – somewhere between a fit of anger and a burst of tears.”

“The cross deals with sin, and the resurrection deals with death. It's a one-two punch. Jesus' healing ministry is all focused on some impact of the curse on our physical world and our bodies. And his teaching ministry is focused on the impact of sin. And so both of them anticipate the final solution, which is the cross and resurrection. The church continues to live out those two ministries of Christ.”