August 4

“They went and told Jesus.”

Imagine the scene when His disciples came to tell Him what happened with John, someone so dear to Jesus. Can you feel the grief, the intense sadness that our Lord experiences in that moment? What if it was someone you knew and loved… a good friend or your family member? How would you feel if someone came to tell you such horrible news?

I can imagine Jesus really wept; I can picture His beautiful heart and how broken it must have been at such tragedy. Are you ever tempted to think that Jesus didn’t experience human emotion like we do? That because He was fully divine, He was somehow spared from the pain of sadness? If so, I want to remind you— He was fully human.

If you’ve ever seen a picture or video scene from the Garden of Gethsemane, when our Lord’s agony in the garden took place, you’ll remember the horrific intensity of what He endured before His crucifixion… while the disciples slept. Like us, He was tempted, he suffered, and he hurt. Yet, unlike us, He constantly said “Thy will be done.”

Tonight, say a prayer for your family and friends and thank our Lord for their gift of life. And remember how precious they are.