Your wound is as deep as the sea. Who can heal you?
Lamentations 2:13
Our wounds are deep, as deep as the sea. They cut through my own heart. I see them everywhere in this city that I live in. You must have them too. Who can heal us?
In the Old Testament, Israel wept because of the suffering that had come upon her. Though the Lord offered warning upon warning and one second chance after another, she rejected God and invited suffering to rain down upon her. Jesus overturns the idea that all suffering can be traced back to a person's own sin or his/her parents' sin, but the suffering is the same. The wounds are deep.
The time I have recently spent reading the historical books and prophets of the Old Testament makes me long for a savior. I can only imagine how the remnant longed for the restoration of their people and their temple. I get overwhelmed when I think about all of the things that are wrong with our world-wars, genocide, global warming, overconsumption, the list could fill up this page. And I long for the restoration of my earth and the people living on it.
The author of Lamentations grieves for his people and what they all, including himself, have lost-their homes, their families, the presence of their Lord. "Your wound is as deep as the sea. Who can heal you?" he inquires. Who can heal us? Who can heal our hearts that are cut so deep?
Consoling himself and his people, he goes on, "Yet, this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness….therefore I will wait for him" (21-24).
Wait no more, my friends! Our Savior has come! Let him heal our unfathomable wounds, the wounds of our suffering, the wounds of our longing for God, the wounds that this world has caused. Our redeemer came to entwine himself intimately with his beloved.
We can hope because Christ has come. All the glory of heaven descended and became flesh, experiencing the joy, suffering and longing of mankind. We celebrate in the coming of a king who knows our hearts and heals our souls. The Israelites waited expectantly for the Messiah but our wait is over as Christ comes and ushers in a new kingdom. Let us embrace the baby of Bethlehem who is the hope of all men.
Merry Christmas! Rejoice for our Savior has come!
Rich, Rebecca & Anna Nichols
Rich.nichols@wordmadeflesh.com Rebecca.nichols@wordmadeflesh.com