The Greek word translated in the NIV as “empathize” is the compound word sympatheo. It is a combination of the Greek word pascho, meaning “to suffer” and the prefix sun (“with”), much like we used the prefix co- in English. This word, translated literally, means “co-suffer.” That’s how Jesus deals with our sin. He suffers with us—suffers the consequences of our thoughts, actions, and disordered desires; suffers the subtle agony of hiding and pretending and presenting a preferred self that traps us in perpetual insecurity; suffers the estrangement from God we willfully choose by “managing” a
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