Groan!

Ezekiel 21:6-7 “Therefore groan, son of man! Groan before them with broken heart and bitter grief. 7 And when they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt with fear and every hand go limp; every spirit will become faint and every leg will be wet with urine.’ It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

Few people like to receive bad news. There are a few people for whom bad news is just more of the same. They breath bad news as easily as we breath air. So much bad has happened in their lives that they expect more to arrive any minute.

But for most of us, bad news is the exception, or at least that is our perception of reality. Most of us tend to try notice the good things that are happening. To not find the good would leave life only filled with sadness and evil. For our own sanity, we seek out the good and focus on it.

But sometimes the bad does come and we groan in sadness, anger, questions and pain. When the bad things happen, we often get temporarily lost. We lose connection with what keeps us anchored and steady. We float on the waves of grief and loss. We might even despair of life itself.

The LORD speaks to Ezekiel and calls him “son of man.” Ezekiel is not exempt from the brokenness of heart and bitter grief that he is proclaiming against Israel. He will also go through these very difficult times. Just because he is a prophet doesn’t mean he is exempt from the hardships of life, or the hardships of exile.

Jesus often uses the term “son of man” when referring to Himself when announcing coming difficulties. It seems as though He uses it to connect himself to the groaning of the prophet Ezekiel. His disciples and the early disciples would have known the words of Ezekiel and made the connection in their minds.

You see, for both Ezekiel and for Jesus, they had a large hurdle to overcome. Their hearers have a certain idea about the way things are supposed to be, and that preconception is getting in the way of hearing the real message. For Ezekiel it is a message of grave importance. Judgment is coming and there is no way to escape it. They will pay the price for the repeated rebellion of their ancestors and for themselves.

For Jesus, the disciples and the religious leaders have pictured the Messiah’s coming in a certain way. They want a political/military uprising. They want Rome’s power overthrown. They want a return to the “good old days.” But that isn’t coming.

Jesus Himself will bear the punishment for all humanity. And that is a hard message to hear for those people to hear. They want to avoid the consequences of rebellion, just like we want to avoid it.

What I have found over my life is that facing death is the best thing we can do. Once we deal with our own death, an inevitable outcome of life, then we can gain a very different perspective and focus for the life we do have. Instead of living a life of avoidance and denial, we are free to live life to it fullest.

We don’t have to live in a gated community with 24/7 security. We don’t have to “be careful” all the time. We don’t always be having to “watch our backs.” We are instead free to engage fully with the will of God, which often involves discomfort and pain.

Just like Jesus, we too are called to walk alongside those who are in pain. We put on His sandals and walk in His shoes. We aren’t afraid to get our hands dirty in the messes of other’s lives. Being ‘safe’ is not our top priority. Being holy is.