Scripture Reading: Matt. 14:1-12; Mark 6:30-32
The Lord Jesus is a person in whom men can most easily confide. He allows others to tell Him anything. The Bible records many instances in which the Lord spoke to men. But it does not record many instances of men speaking to Him. To my knowledge, there are only two passages of Scripture which talk about this. The first is in Matthew 14, where John’s disciples came to tell the Lord something. The second is in Mark 6, where the Lord’s own disciples came to tell Him something.
These two passages of Scripture show us two different pictures. One is a sad picture; the other is a happy picture. One picture shows us that John the Baptist’s disciples realized that their teacher was dead and had come to a tragic end. What a sad thing this was! After John’s disciples had buried their teacher, they came to tell Jesus about it. The other picture shows us the Lord’s twelve disciples being sent to preach the gospel, heal the sick, and cast out demons. This was a happy experience, and the disciples came and told the Lord about it.
The Bible records many instances in which the Lord spoke to men. But it does not record many instances in which men came to the Lord to tell Him something. Our Lord is a Lord in whom men can confide. Men can easily tell the Lord what they want to say. Any words can be told to Him. From these two passages, we can see the Lord’s sympathy for us. Many times we encounter sufferings. Many times we have joy. Many times we need someone to share our sorrow or joy, but we are unable to find someone. Sometimes when we tell others, they do not listen. If we encounter a difficult or unsolvable problem, we want to tell others, but they may think that it is an unimportant matter. It is something very important and crucial to us. But when we tell others about it, they ignore us. Sometimes we tell others about something very joyous, but they do not understand and share our joy. At other times we feel depressed, but others cannot share our depression. Sometimes others may have had similar experiences and have the ability to feel our sorrow or joy, but they do not want to share our feelings. They already have enough joy or sorrow of their own, and they are unable to bear the joy or sorrow of others. They cannot feel what we feel. Sometimes we hope to find someone to whom we can tell our sorrows and joys. It is hard enough to find someone who will listen to us. It is even harder to find someone who will sympathize with us.
Many times we think that the Lord is great. Even though our Lord is great, He does not neglect the small things. We may think that what we tell Him must also be something great, or else He will not listen. Little do we realize that our Lord never neglects the small things. There is nothing that is too small for the Lord to listen to. He is willing to listen to everything. He is willing to listen to everything concerning us. He was willing to listen to His own disciples, and He was willing to listen to John’s disciples. The disciples of John had followed their teacher for a long time. One can imagine the affection there was between them and John. When their teacher was killed, how could they not be brokenhearted? The Bible does not say that they complained about Herod, nor does it say that they cried all day long. They only buried John’s body and then came to tell Jesus.
Some would bury their dead and then say, “Everything with me is over. I have lost all hope. He is dead, and I have lost everything. Everything I had left with him.” Yet these are the times when we should draw near to the Lord. We can tell the Lord our sorrow. He will not rebuke us as being too worldly, too affectionate, or too attached to our dead ones. He knows our emotion, and He sympathizes with our heart. Some may have never experienced the sorrow of losing their parents, wife, brothers, or relatives. Nevertheless, when they lose something, they still feel as if their “John” has died, and they are left in despair and disappointment. They feel that the sky above them is no longer blue and that everything around them has lost its ardor; they find no way out. At such times it is most unprofitable to not bury the corpse, to cry, and to be sorrowful over it all the time. They should bury the corpse, like the disciples of John did, and go and tell the Lord. We should realize that when we have a thorough talk with the Lord and pour out our heart to Him, our intimacy with the Lord is one step further, and we know Him a little more. Intimate contact with Him at these times is hundreds of times better than our ordinary fellowship with Him. By these contacts we advance in life. We should bring our problems to the Lord and tell Him about them. He can comfort us and help us. If a person has never shed tears before the Lord, if he has never shared his joy or sorrow with the Lord, and if he has never talked with the Lord about his private matters, he has never had any intimate fellowship with the Lord; he has never had any deep acquaintance with Him. We are not saying that you cannot ask others to pray for you or ask others to help you. We are saying that one can only be drawn closer to the Lord through telling Him everything.
Once John’s disciples told the Lord of their sorrows, every problem dissolved. No matter what we tell Him, He will listen. No man can sympathize with everyone. But our Lord can sympathize with everyone. He is sympathetic to every one of our problems. He cares for the affairs of us all. In His heart, there seems to be no one else’s affairs but ours. He bears all our sorrows. No matter how weak we are, He will sympathize with us and bear our sorrow for us. Our Lord is willing to bear all our anxieties and patient to listen to our speaking. Do not think that He will not listen. We should never be lazy in bringing our matters to Him. He is waiting for us to tell them to Him, and He is happy to listen to our speaking.
The Lord not only wants to listen to our sorrows; He wants to listen to our joys as well. We feel that it is relatively easy to mourn with those who mourn, but it is hard to rejoice with those who rejoice. Many people think that sympathizing with others means having pity on them. But having pity on someone is not sympathizing. To sympathize means that one can rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. Sometimes we may see others bubbling over with joy and consider them to be too exuberant and frivolous. This means that we cannot sympathize with the joy of others. Paul said, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15). This is to sympathize with others. The Lord is willing to be sorrowful with us, and He is willing to rejoice with us.
Mark 6:30 tells us that “the apostles gathered together to Jesus and reported to Him all that they did and all that they taught.” The things they did were worth rejoicing about (cf. Mark 6:7; Luke 10:17). They went to the Lord and told Him all their joys. Many people go to the Lord when they have difficulties, but how many pray when they are rejoicing? When men are in sorrow, it is natural for them to ask the Lord for help. But when they are happy, it is easy for them to forget about telling the Lord.
Mr. Charles Spurgeon once went with a friend to the countryside for a horseback ride after he became exhausted from his preaching. At one point he was elated, jumped off his horse, and invited his friend to do the same. His friend was surprised at his move and asked him what he was going to do. He said, “Since God has given us such joy, let us thank Him at this very minute.” The two of them knelt down by the road and prayed. We cannot have laughter all the time, but whenever we have joy, we should tell the Lord. We should remember the Lord at the moment of joy and share our joy with Him. The Lord never rebukes us for having too much joy. He cares for our feelings in a spontaneous way. Therefore, we should not forget to tell the Lord our joy.
What did the Lord do after He heard His disciples? He said, “Come by yourselves privately to a deserted place and rest a while” (Mark 6:31). The Lord did this in order to give them some rest. Many times we go privately to a deserted place to rest because we are unhappy and depressed. With no other recourse to take, we go to a deserted place all alone to rest. But such occasions frequently make us more distraught than before we went away. Our Lord did not merely tell the disciples to go to the deserted place to rest; He told them to go with Him. The Lord’s presence gave them sweet rest and renewed their strength.
Our Lord is happy to listen to our sorrows, and He is happy to listen to our joys. He is the Lord to whom we can tell everything. Since we have such a Lord, why not tell Him all the secrets of our hearts?
