Jesus sang right before entering into his worst suffering. Follow his example and sing through your suffering, because your Savior is with you every step of the way. He understands.
Have you ever wondered when Jesus sang?
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and we can be sure he did sing in synagogue during Shabbat or at religious festivals in Jerusalem. I can see him as a boy standing with his family in the temple court, gazing up at the Levites who led everyone in song. Certainly, he was taught to sing the Hallel during Jewish Passover—every good Jewish boy sang those Psalms. Singing must’ve come naturally to him. And I wonder: did he hum a Psalm when he worked in his father’s carpenter shop? Surely he knew scores of hymns written by Asaph, David’s choirmaster. Walking with his disciples in a stiff sea breeze along the shores of Galilee, was Jesus the one who would first strike up a tune? Did the others chime in? What about when his heart filled with so much joy, he just had to spread his arms wide and let loose with a song? Well, there is only one place in the Bible where it is recorded that Jesus sang.
And the scene is not on a sunny hillside, not at a joy-filled wedding, it is not as Jesus crossed the sea in a boat with his friends, or as he took a solitary walk up a hill in the cool of early dawn. Rather, the scene for the song was in the Upper Room the night he was betrayed. Matthew 26 describes the moment. It happened when Jesus gave his disciples the bread and wine. And after that, “When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” Of all the times and places that God chose to have us remember his Son singing, it is when he was led to his death. This was the one horrible moment—recorded for posterity—when our Savior sang. Charles Spurgeon wrote about that moment. He said…
“Jesus was on the brink of a great depth of misery into which he was about to plunge, and yet he would have [his disciples] sing a hymn. What does he teach us by it? Does he not say to each of us, his followers, ‘I, your Master, by my example [I am instructing] you to sing even when the last solemn hour is come. I am your singing-master. . . my dying voice shall lead you: notwithstanding all the griefs which overwhelm my heart, I will play the chief musician, and be to you the sweet singer of Israel.’” It’s no coincidence that a hymn echoed in Jesus’ heart as he stared into the jaws of incomprehensible suffering. And God boldly asks us to do the same when our great time of suffering arrives. Like 1 Peter 2 says, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.”
I’ve lived with quadriplegia for more than half a century and have wrestled with chronic pain for much of that time. I struggle with breathing problems and all of it makes for a perfect storm for discouragement. Yet when I am in pain, or it is simply another weary day of plain paralysis, I strengthen myself with Jesus’ example in the Upper Room. I take up my cross to the tune of a hymn.
These reflections I’ve just shared are from my new book "Songs of Suffering." It’s a beautiful collection of powerful stories and extraordinary hymns… the kinds of songs that have rich, deep words; beautiful words that have sustained me through times of great hardship. I’ve posted details about this new book on joniradio.org, so if you know someone who’s hurting or if you are in need of encouragement, then learn more about "Songs of Suffering." It’ll bless you, I promise. Find out more at joniradio.org.
© Joni and Friends