Malcolm Cox

What is Jesus an empath? I was speaking on Hebrews four recently, and it struck me that the NIV translates one of the qualities about Jesus being that he can empathise with us. “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14-16 NIV11-GK) (NRSV translates ‘empathise’ as ‘sympathise’) Is there much of a difference? There are technical differences, but I'm not sure whether the Greek makes those. Instead, for the writer to the Hebrews is getting across is the Jesus gets us, understands us, feels us. We see this so often in the gospels when the person he is speaking to is treated as if they are the only pers