Breaktrail Week 2-Jesus understands our pain
Notes
Transcript
WHAT? What are we talking about today?
STORY | Talk about a ridiculous injury you sustained.
Welcome back to Break Trail, where we're talking about walking in the footsteps of Jesus. We have a lot of information about Jesus' life on earth, but we don't know everything. I still have a lot of questions about Jesus, like . . .
What was His favorite food? Did He have a favorite joke? What did He do on His days off? I know He never sinned, but do you think Jesus ever made a tiny little human mistake, like stub His toe?
Has there ever been a time when you got hurt in a ridiculous way… like it was painful but you laughed about it afterwards...
VIDEO | A Clip from The Office ("Michael Grills His Foot")
Judging by some of your stories, I'm guessing at least some of you can relate to this situation Michael Scott once got himself into.
INSTRUCTIONS: As a teaching tool, play a short clip (0:30-1:20) from this scene in The Office, where Michael Scott burns his foot on a George Forman Grill.
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When Michael grilled his foot in rancid bacon grease, he wasn't looking for people to tell him what to do, and he certainly wasn't looking for someone to laugh at him. All he wanted was for someone to come to his house, pick him up, and bring him to work so he could be around his friends — I mean coworkers. The "friend" thing is debatable.
OBJECT LESSON | First Aid Friends
Sometimes when we're hurt, people will try to show up for us, but not always in the ways we want or need. People might try to show up with a first aid kit to try and fix your problem for you, but I think we all know a fix isn't always as important as a friend.
INSTRUCTIONS: Before your program, pack a first aid kit with a phone, a snack, and a set of car keys. Remove these items as you teach . . .
PHONE: Sometimes when we're hurt, people want to give us advice. But we really just want someone to give us a call and listen as we talk it out.
SNACK: Sometimes the best "medicine" for a tough day is a friend or family member who shows up with your favorite snack to remind you they see you.
CAR KEYS: Sometimes you just need someone who is willing to pick you up when you need to take a moment to breathe or get away from a tough situation.
SO WHAT? Why does it matter to God and to us?
STORY | Talk about a time no one understood your pain.
But sometimes when we're going through something painful, it feels like no one understands.
When life already hurts, people add to that hurt (even if they don't mean to) when they fail to get to know our pain. It's not because they don't want to help or don't care. It's just hard to really understand what other people are going through sometimes.
VIDEO | A Clip from Marvel's Tribute to Chadwick Boseman
Although it's never easy to experience pain, it helps when we know we're not alone. Once in a while, a tragedy occurs that unites people in their pain, like when the world loses someone who was seen as a trailblazer. Like we said last week, there's a hiking term called "breaking trail." It's what you do when you encounter deep snow that's tough to navigate.
When that happens, one hiker usually goes ahead of their group and clears the way so others can follow behind. It's so much easier to walk in the tracks of someone else who has already "broken" the trail. We often call those people "trailblazers," but we don't always use that term literally. Sometimes a "trailblazer" is someone who has forged a new and different kind of path.
Chadwick Boseman was an incredible actor who many people saw as a trailblazer. Before his premature death to cancer, Chadwick made the most of his career, not just for himself, but for the next generation too. In the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, it is said of Chadwick, "He was not only a conduit to the past and the way African-Americans persevered and pushed through so many challenges, he also represented brightness and the promise of tomorrow."
INSTRUCTIONS: As a teaching tool, play a short clip from a video like this one (3:38-4:36) of Marvel's tribute to Chadwick Boseman.
Chadwick's death was painful for so many young people who looked up to him as a trailblazer.
SCRIPTURE | Matthew 27:27-44
On Easter Sunday, believers all over the world celebrate the day of Jesus' resurrection.
But it's important to remember the pain that came first.
Before Jesus' followers knew they had a reason to celebrate, they had to deal with the loss of Jesus — their trailblazer who blazed new trails and showed them new ways of understanding what God is like. When some people think about God, they think about someone who's far away and not relatable. They see God as someone who might be able to solve their problems, but not someone who can actually relate to their painful or frustrating things. But Jesus shows us that's not true.
INSTRUCTIONS: Read Matthew 27:27-44
Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews.
Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
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When Jesus was arrested and eventually killed, he felt every type of pain imaginable.
Jesus was physically in pain. He was beaten with fists, whips, and other ancient weapons. Nails were driven through His hands and feet. When He hung on the cross, He couldn't breathe. Jesus felt the pain of being insulted. People questioned Jesus' authenticity, took and gambled away His clothes to humiliate Him, and mocked Him and everything He had lived and fought for. Jesus felt the pain of being betrayed. Like we said last week, many of the people Jesus loved walked away from Him. Jesus was abandoned by many people who had been close to Him. Jesus felt the pain of seeing His loved ones in pain. In the last moments before He took His last breath, Jesus saw His own mother in the crowd, who was unable to do anything except watch in horror. Jesus felt the pain of being misunderstood. Jesus was put to death by religious leaders, soldiers, and everyday people who saw Him as a criminal, blasphemer, or violent rebel. But in reality, Jesus was God Himself, on a mission to love and rescue each of them. So no, God isn't incapable of understanding our pain. Jesus (who is God) understands pain very well.
SCRIPTURE | Philippians 3:10-14
In the book of Philippians, the apostle Paul (one of the earliest leaders in the early Church) wrote a letter to some of the early Jesus-followers. He had this to say about the pain Jesus suffered . . .
INSTRUCTIONS: Read Philippians 3:10-14
I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Jesus showed us God understands our pain. But then Paul said he was trying to better understand Jesus' pain too.
Paul said he wanted to know and experience the power of Jesus' resurrection.
Jesus' life is the reason we can have life too! Paul was saying he wanted to have a new kind of life through the power of Jesus, both now and for eternity. But Paul said he wanted to experience the pain of Jesus' suffering too. So does that mean Paul just wanted to sit and think about Jesus' death until he felt more sad? Does it mean he wanted to literally reenact the day Jesus went to the cross? Not necessarily.
Paul was saying he would put to death his old life in order to live his new life in Jesus.
Just like Jesus died, Paul wanted to see his old life of sin die too. And no matter what, Paul said he would keep moving forward, focusing on a hopeful future because of Jesus and forgetting his painful and sinful past. Through His death and resurrection from the dead, Jesus gave us the chance to be rescued from sin and experience a new and abundant life with Him. But that new life also involves death — Jesus' death, as well as the death of our sins. When Jesus died, He showed us He understands our pain. Now we're invited to understand Jesus’ pain too.
When we're experiencing pain, Jesus reminds us He understands what we're going through because He suffered too. When we remember how Jesus experienced pain, we are reminded of how much God gave in order to rescue us from sin.
We follow a Savior who is right there with us when we're hurting, because
Jesus understands our pain.
Jesus understands our pain.
NOW WHAT? What does God want us to do about it?
JESUS KNOWS OUR PAIN
So today, what kind of pain are you feeling?
PHYSICAL PAIN: Can you relate to any of the ways Jesus was physically harmed by others? Or maybe you have an illness, injury, or disability that causes you pain. Jesus knows what it's like to experience physical pain.
EMOTIONAL PAIN: If you've ever felt left out, forgotten, betrayed, or unwanted, Jesus has been there too. Sometimes people are cruel on purpose and sometimes life is just really difficult and complicated. Sometimes people we love are hurting and we feel like there's nothing we can do to fix it. No matter why you're hurting, Jesus knows what it's like to experience emotional pain too.
SPIRITUAL PAIN: Or maybe you're struggling right now because of a sin that feels like it has control of your life. If that's you, remember Jesus willingly took on the weight of your sin so you could have freedom and new life. You don't have to carry this alone. My pain doesn't look like your pain. Your experiences are different from mine. It's sometimes easy for us to point fingers or try to decide whose pain is the biggest, but nobody wins when we operate that way.
MUSIC | "Another in the Fire" (Hillsong United)
Sometimes the best thing in the midst of our toughest, most painful moments is to be reminded we aren't alone. That's what Jesus did for us. As we sing this song, here's what I want you to think about . . .
"What is painful in my life right now?"
"How do I need Jesus to help me find healing from that pain?"
"How can I better understand the pain Jesus experienced?"
"In my life, what needs to die so I can find new life in Jesus?"
INSTRUCTIONS: Play the song “Another in the Fire” (Hillsong United)
PRAYER | A Prayer for Each Other's Pain
Jesus understands our pain, but sometimes in order to really believe that, we need to meet another person who at least tries to understand our pain. Maybe there's a way for you to do that for someone else. When you become aware of someone else's pain . . .
LOOK TO JESUS: In Jesus, we have a trailblazer whose paths we can follow. Jesus willingly chose to enter into our pain in order to help us find a way out. We don't need to literally die for each other in order to do that, but we can choose to get involved in each other's lives when things get painful.
PRESS ON TOGETHER: The apostle Paul talked about pressing on in his faith. But when life is painful, that can be difficult to do alone. We need each other when life is painful and we need each other to help us put an end to our old sinful lives. We can't do it alone.
PRAY WITH EACH OTHER: When life is painful or we're struggling to move on from a sin that's controlling us, it can feel like we're the only one fighting that battle. But just like Jesus stands with us in our pain, we can stand with each other in prayer.
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INSTRUCTIONS: Have your students circle up with one or two people sitting beside them. Encourage each person to pray for one thing that has brought pain to them or someone they know. Have each person end their prayer with, "God, this is my prayer." Then, have the rest of the group respond with, "God, this is our prayer," to show they understand their pain. ‘
I don't know what kind of pain you're familiar with right now, but whether it's physical, emotional, or spiritual pain, you are not in this alone. Jesus understands your pain. This week, I hope that knowledge motivates you to spend more time with Him. That's why He came to earth in the first place — to be close with you.