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I suppose it would be nice if life had no downs, no moments in which the spirit takes a nose dive and expresses it with a sigh. One popular public definition of sigh is “...an audible exhalation of air arising from tiredness or emotion, usually sadness, which itself could be stemming from feelings of sadness or futility. A sigh can also arise from positive emotions such as relief. Some people do it just to cool down organs or suppress emotions.” I sometimes sigh only to have someone near me say, “What's the matter?” Usually a sigh is taken in a negative way unless it is obviously due to a positive event.

Jesus was/is God. Jesus was man. He was not half-man the way gods are portrayed in Greek Mythology or in other pagan religions. Jesus was fully God and He was fully man! That is a mystery that humans cannot understand but which the Bible reveals as truth. As a man, Jesus was subject to the same feelings and emotions to which we are subject. When He went without food, He became hungry. When He exerted Himself for long periods of time without rest, He became tired. When events were particularly adverse to what He wished or expected, He became angry. On a few occasions the Bible says that Jesus sighed; on one and only one occasion it says that He sighed deeply. Our message today will deal with that singular occasion.

“Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him. But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, 'Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation.'” (Mark 8.11-12). Three things in the immediate context seem to contribute to the adverse reaction of Jesus to the Pharisees. First, they began to dispute with Him. Next, they came seeking from Him a sign from heaven. And finally, this was all done with the intent of testing Him. Perhaps there would have been nothing wrong with disputing with Him had they been sincere. And there certainly was nothing inherently wrong with seeking a sign to validate the message of a prophet. However, their entire mission was poisoned by the fact that they came testing Him. More on this point follows immediately.

A more common translation of the Greek word rendered testing in this passage is the word tempting. They came tempting Him. Their purpose was not to discover truth, but to ensnare Him in some way so that they could maintain their power over the people and sustain their egos at the expense of Jesus. Their actions were no more acceptable than those of the Devil when he directly confronted Jesus soon after He was baptized in the Jordan River. Jesus sighed deeply in His spirit due to the immense hurt that He felt from the hardness of the hearts of those who were the spiritual leaders of Israel. He sighed because the Pharisees had such opportunities but squandered them all for worldly fame and power. Jesus sighed in His spirit because there was no reaching men whose minds were made up without so much as a glimpse at the evidence.

This reaction of Jesus reflects the care and concern that He had/has for humanity. His mission was to seek and to save (Luke 19.10), not to condemn (John 3.17). However, the only way that He could/can effect the salvation of human beings is via the heart. The heart is the most tender of places and it can be the most insensitive of places. Jesus can only save those whose hearts have been preserved from the self-hardening influences of sin and prolonged debased behavior. Do not grieve because sometimes you sigh in your spirit; that is but a reflection of the fact that your heart yet feels and reacts. Protect the heart with all watchfulness, for out of it are the issues of life (Proverbs 4.23)!

Questions:

1. What motivated the Pharisees who came out to dispute with Jesus?

2. What is signified by the fact that Jesus sighed deeply in His spirit?

3. Through what human faculty must Jesus approach all men? What if that faculty is hardened beyond feeling?

4. How can we avoid contracting spiritual heart disease?

"Refreshment in Refuge" from Gina Burgess

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