22 Jesus Knows; Jesus Understands
JESUS KNOWS; JESUS UNDERSTANDS
When we think of the trials and temptations of the God-man, we usually think of His wilderness experience. His desperate hunger and fiery thirst. Or that darkest of hours when His friends abandoned Him. We remember He had no place to call home. We recall He walked hundreds of weary miles. His muscles ached and His feet blistered. He cried real tears. And when they pinioned His body to that rough wooden cross, He not only bore our sins, but He became sin for us. He identified with every area of our human weakness.
But that profound identification didn’t start with His public ministry. No, when I think of the extent Christ went to probe the depths of human experience, I think of His birth.
Even as a baby He identified. No pastel-papered, hygienic nursery for Him. No brand-new crib and changing table. No disposable diapers and baby powder. No musical mobiles of giraffes and teddy bears. No cotton swabs and baby ointment. No pink and blue needlepoint hanging on the wall. And those strips of cloth that covered His infant body were a far cry from Carter’s top-of-the-line.
Right from the beginning of His journey on earth, the Lord sympathized with our weaknesses. He entered history in a smelly stable with a handful of hay for a pillow. The only music He heard may have been the muffled strains of a lyre and flute from the crowded inn nearby. The first fragrances to fill His nostrils were musty straw and animal manure. His first bed was a feed trough. His first changing table was a dirt floor.
Not one of us can ever point an accusing finger at Jesus and say, “You live in an ivory tower. You don’t know what it’s like!”
Maybe God planned it that way to make a point. Perhaps our heavenly Father wanted us to understand that in weakness there is strength. In poverty, riches. In humiliation, dignity.
Even as a baby, the Lord Jesus had a mission. Before He could even speak, His life was a message. His birth, in many ways, was a sermon. From the very beginning, He was demonstrating the extent to which divine love would reach.
This is the High Priest to whom we give our praises—during the Christmas season and all year long. This is the One we adore and to whom we sing our thanksgivings. We have a Savior who sympathizes with our weaknesses.
“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence” (Hebrews 4:16).
Because Jesus understands.
History and heaven defy anyone to say otherwise.
A Step Closer:
Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.
HEBREWS
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.
HEBREWS 4:15
Do it now. Fix your thoughts on Jesus. Wonder at the enormity of the mission He undertook to purchase our salvation. Marvel that He would go to such lengths—not only to rescue us, but to be there for us, a faithful and sympathetic High Priest, in times of temptation and trial. Praise Him for becoming our great High Priest, who pleads our case before the Father.