It is easy to feel sorry for Jesus, especially when we think of how abominably he was treated leading up to his death. He was a good man – the finest man ever to live – and he was treated most shamefully, with gross injustice, cruelty and violence. He was spat upon and mocked, he had a crown of thorns forced on to his head, he was beaten viciously and stripped naked – and all without any justification whatsoever.
But should we feel sorry for him? Jesus himself indicates that our pity should be pointed in a different direction. Luke tells us that, as he was walking to his crucifixion, with Simon of Cyrene carrying his cross for him, there were women who mourned and wailed for him. Yet Jesus said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children” (Luke 23:28). Why? Because of the judgment that would fall on the city of Jerusalem for its apostasy.
The danger in merely feeling sorry for Jesus is that we then naturally want to help him in some way, when in reality it is we who need his help. We need him to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves: to die for our sins. Our pity would be better reserved for those who do not realise that they will face God’s judgment one day. Also, Jesus was no helpless victim; a victim, yes, but never helpless. No one took his life from him; he lay it down of his own accord… for us. Much better to praise him than to pity him.