Hebrews 5:1-3 For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God… Human sympathy, we must remember, may, and in many cases does, from its very fulness become weakness. The sympathy of a mother for a child will too often prevent her from inflicting necessary punishment. The sympathy of the benevolent for the poor and suffering may, without caution, tend to the encouragement of vice. Sympathy is essentially a woman's virtue, but the quickness of feeling which overpowers judgment is also a woman's infirmity. There is, in fact, no virtue which more powerfully demands law and limitation before it, can safely be yielded to. But the dignity of our blessed Lord's sympathy is as remarkable as its depth. He sympathised with the shame of the sinner whom He pardoned, but He never excused the offence. "Thy sins are forgiven thee; go, and sin no more," are the words which have touched the human heart, and worked repentance and amendment of life in thousands since the days when they were first spoken; but no one could ever claim them as an encouragement to sin. The dignity of our Lord's sympathy was, in fact, shown by His obedience to the law which bade Him exhibit God's perfection. He never allowed one virtue to interfere with another. Mercy and truth might meet together, righteousness and peace might kiss each other, but the one never entrenched upon the province of the other; if it had there would have been no perfection. And if we, like Christ, would rightly sympathise; if we would in our degree bear the griefs of our fellow-creatures, without any weakness of judgment or absence of due proportion, we must view those sorrows as Christ viewed them, and soothe them in His spirit. To relieve all anguish, to remove all pain, that is not to be our object. If it were, we might well in sorrow close our doors to the suffering, and, shutting out their misery from our view, give ourselves up to our own enjoyment. For sympathy is pain. When we feel with and for another, we must in a measure suffer; and, looking at the sad amount of wretchedness in this fallen world, we may, perhaps, at first sight be pardoned if we deem it better to be without sympathy — neither to require it for ourselves, nor to offer it to others. The loss on the one side may, we may well think, be counterbalanced by the gain on the other. Parallel Verses KJV: For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: |
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