To some of the ancient Greek philosophers the idea that any sort of human feelings or emotions could move God was unbelievable. In their understanding God lacked the capability of experiencing feelings and therefore the human condition could not influence Him in any way. The Stoics concluded that the foremost attribute of God's nature was precisely that He could not be affected by what mere mortals experience emotionally good or bad. They called this characteristic of the essence of God apatheia. This was not simply apathy or indifference, it was a total barrenness within His nature to be moved or be affected by the human condition. In their reasoning God could not be subject to the influence of human emotions because that would give man control over Him, meaning that that person would have power over God. In their thinking no one could make God sad or happy for no one should have such power over Him. For God to descend to the human level would corrupt His nature and in their thinking that was impossible.

If you are thinking by now that all this sounds strange and weird, you are right! It is strange. That is exactly what happens when man tries to figure out God by himself. Man tries to know God by analyzing and laying Him down on the sofa of their own cognitive ability or understanding and that is impossible. We can know and understand God only on His terms, and He revealing Himself to us only achieves that.

Well, can God be affected by our condition? Can He be moved or be "touched" by our joys and sufferings? How about our indifference, is He disturbed in anyway? Has He any feelings at all? Does He has any interest in listening to us if we loose our jobs, cannot have children or if our children are runaways? If our past involves some terrible mistake that even a fellow human being have lost his or her life and we are in a physical or mental prison or both, what if we are the slaves to some unspeakable habit of the flesh that we do not want anybody to know about it but we want to be free, will He still be willing to forgive and help us? Or, will He throw The Book on us? What will He do if we come to Him for mercy? In he book of Hebrews 4:15,16 we read:

15. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

16. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

The Wuest Greek translation of the New Testament shines some more light on these verses: Hebrews 4:15,16:

For we do not have a High Priest who is not able to enter experientially into a fellow feeling with our infirmities, but one who has been tempted and tested in all points like as we are, without sin. Let us be coming therefore with boldness to the throne of grace, in order that we may procure mercy and find grace for seasonable help.

In verse 15 of chapter 4 of the book of Hebrews the words "be touched with" are a single word in the Greek: "sumpatheo". This word means to suffer with another or to be affected similarly. This is where we get the English word sympathy. It means also to have compassion upon.

In Matthew 18:27 we read how the lord of a servant was "moved with compassion" when the latter could not pay his debt. In the Greek this phrase is one word: "splagchnizomai", which means to have the vowels yearn, to feel sympathy or to have pity. The Greeks believed that the seat of all human emotions was found or resided in the nobler viscera, that is, the lungs, the heart, the liver, and the intestines. This word is the strongest Greek expression for the feeling of compassion. This word does not describe a shallow feeling of sympathy but the deepest of the emotions that strikes the core of the human nature. When this word is used in the Gospels it always refers to Jesus or to the nature of the Father and His response toward the human condition. This feeling of compassion speaks of sharing the sufferings of another, of walking in somebody else's shoes long enough to become that person and always with the willingness to provide the necessary help or support to arise above the circumstances.

One very occasion that Jesus faced the human tragedy he was always moved with compassion. In Matthew 9:36-38 we see Him moved with compassion due to the spiritual and physical condition of the people; in Mark 8:2, Matthew 14:14 and 15:32 He was moved with compassion because of the physiological needs of the people: He healed the sick and fed the hungry; in Mark 1:41 and Matthew 20:34 He healed the sick; in Luke 7:13 and Mark 9:22 Jesus was moved with compassion because of the emotional distress of man.

God became man, God walked with man, and in Jesus He walked in our shoes: flesh. He took upon himself the nature that separated us from God and condemned it in the flesh, thus disannulling all judgment that we inherited from the first Adam. He did not come as God, or took the form of an angel to reconcile us unto His Father, otherwise we could excuse ourselves from our failures by telling Him: "Yes, but you are God." Or, "Oh yes, but that's easy for an angel."

No, there are no excuses, the man Jesus, our High Priest did not come as Superman from the planet Third Heaven. No, He knows and understands what we have been through because He has been there and has suffered in the flesh what you and I might think that nobody on this planet can understand because they have not endured pain in the same measure that we have. Let me tell you something, Jesus knows first hand and better than anybody else the estate of our affairs. He took upon Himself the emotional, physical and spiritual onslaught of the human experience and has settled on his own body the indictment that hung upon us because of our infirmities, rendering it powerless to influence or subdue those that come to him for help. Through Jesus, the Father has demonstrated His commitment toward us not just by "lending us a hand", but by giving and investing Himself in the human experience for our sakes. We can come to Him boldly. He knows what it is to be under the pressure of our situation and He knows how to overcome where you and I have failed. He holds the keys to our victory. It is up to us to receive His provision.

Hebrews 2:18 (Amplified version)
For because He Himself [in His humanity] has suffered in being tempted (tested and tried), He is able [immediately] to run to the cry of (assist, relieve) those who are being tempted and tested and tried [and who therefore are being exposed to suffering].

Victor