As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. -Isaiah 66:13
Dear members and friends,
The love of a mother for her child(ren) is well known throughout the ages, regardless of cultures and regions. The actual expression of that love may be different from one mother to another, but the never ceasing and ever comforting nature of that love is quite universally emphasized. However, it is also true that not all mothers are loving and caring toward their children. Either by choice or by the hardship of life itself, there are many mothers who do not or cannot fulfill the expected duty of being a loving and comforting mother. Perhaps the truth is that being a mother is as challenging as it is special!
Loving or not, our mothers are very special to us. For many of us, our mothers are the most influential person in the formation of who we are. Why is the mother special to us? The Bible gives us a little hint in that the Hebrew word for the mother can also be translated as “the point of the departure.” Whatever the situation after the birth is, it is undeniable that we spent about nine months in our mother’s womb and came out to be a human being as we departed from her. As a human being, our mother is just another female person, but to all humans their mother is literally the origin of their life; where their body and mind were formed and nurtured.
In Isaiah 66, God says, “As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you.” The definition of English word “comfort” is: 1. a state of physical ease and freedom from pain or constraint; 2. the easing or alleviation of a person’s feelings of grief or distress. However, the Hebrew word for comfort could also be translated as “to repent,” or “to regret” as well as “to console oneself,” or “to have compassion.” In King James Version, this very word is translated 57 times as comfort, while 41 times as repent. In my understanding, this indicates a teaching and reminder from God that true comfort might only be obtained as the result of true repentance, which, according to Jesus, is simply acknowledging the wrong and never repeating it.
Blessings, Rev. Junchol Lee