1/4/09 - Christmas 2 - Hebrews 2:10-18

JESUS UNDERSTANDS
- He was made like you in every way
- He has suffered for you in every way

Whenever I think of Jesus as a real person living on this earth, I’m sure I have a very romanticized idea of what he was like. And I wouldn’t be surprised if most Christians thought of him along the same lines as I do. I think of a stoic individual. Brilliant but humble. Soft spoken but powerful and absolutely convincing in his delivery. A man who commanded respect but never demanded it. A person who could not be influenced by anyone around him and a man who was never affected by anything that happened - good or bad. A rock, one in whom there were no signs of any weaknesses whatsoever, a human being free from the normal internal struggles of life, and a person that never had a bad day. One who was never too happy and never too sad, one who was constant, stable, one who was so pure that he could not be touched by evil of any kind.
And all of that is true. Jesus was all of those things to an extent that we can’t even really describe with human words. But although this description of Jesus is for the most part accurate, don’t let this pristine image of Jesus take away from the grittiness of his humanity. Jesus was a human being in every way. And so he experienced the same pains and troubles and temptations that any person experiences in this life. Jesus was not immune to attacks from the devil or the enticements of this world. In fact, he was assaulted by those enemies to an even greater degree as long as he was on this earth. As a true human being he was open to harassment, vulnerable to violence, and was even challenged face to face by the devil himself. Yes, Jesus was and is perfect. Yes, Jesus was and is true God. But that did not exempt him from the sorrows and the struggles that life on this earth inevitably hands out. Except for being conceived with sin, Jesus was fully human in every way and he had to deal with all of the baggage that comes with it.
The writer of the book of Hebrews underscores this aspect of the Son of God: his humanity, his suffering, and the sacrifices he had to go through for his children. And so the author writes in chapter 2, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil… For this reason he had to be made like this brothers in every way… Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” Jesus was made like you in every way. And Jesus has suffered for you in every way. And so Jesus understands.
Jesus understands exactly what you are going through. Jesus understands exactly how difficult the temptations are that you face every day. Jesus knows exactly what hardships, what sorrows, what pains, what questions, what doubts, what sins, what weaknesses you are dealing with in your life because he has been through them all - a thousand times over. He was made like you in every way. He knows what it’s like to have the devil personally attack you. He knows what it’s like to lose a loved one. He knows what it’s like to be alone. Jesus knows what it’s like for you. Jesus understands.
You would think we would go to him more often, wouldn’t you? If he has been made just like we are, if he knows what we are going through and has even gone through it all himself, you would think that we would come to him for help and advice and comfort a little more often! But when temptations strike we usually try to deal with them ourselves without consulting the Lord first. When we are tempted to put off telling others about Christ or inviting them to hear his Word, we usually don’t first ask Jesus for the confidence to carry on, we just try not to think about it so that we don’t feel so guilty when we don’t do it. When we are tempted to neglect the study of God’s Word, our first reaction is not to ask Jesus for the motivation to enjoy his Word, we just try to tell ourselves that it’s not that big of a deal this one time. When we are tempted to talk about others behind their backs, we don’t immediately go to Jesus and ask him to help us keep the 8th Commandment, we just attempt to justify our words by resting on the fact that “it’s a true story after all.” When we are tempted to despair because a loved one is no longer with us, we usually don’t start off by going to Jesus for strength, we just are content to float in the luke-warm pool of self-pity for a while. When we are tempted, we give in or we try to brush it aside or we pretend that nothing is wrong - but rarely will we go to Jesus first. Rarely will we go to the one who knows, who’s been through it all, who understands - and who is always ready and available to help us at any time.
When King Solomon died, his son Rehoboam took over the throne. The people of Israel came to him and asked him to lighten the burden that his father Solomon had placed on them. Rehoboam decided to think about it for a few days and went to the advisors that had served under his father Solomon and he asked them for their advice. “They replied, ‘If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants’” (1 Kings 12:7). But Rehoboam, who had no experience as a ruler up to that point, who had no idea how to deal with a nation, who was still a young man without any past guidance to fall back on, rejected their advice. He ignored the suggestion of advisors who had years of experience, who had a working knowledge of the way the government should be run, and who had served under a king whom the Lord himself had given an immeasurable amount of wisdom. Don’t you think those advisors would have been a little bit insulted by Rehoboam’s behavior? Don’t you think Jesus is a little bit insulted by ours? He has the experience of a full life on this earth. He has a working knowledge of every temptation known to the human race. He is the wisest, the most loving, and the only perfect human being every to walk the face of this earth. He is the one about whom Scripture says, “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” And our first option is rarely to go to him for advice and strength and comfort? We would rather deal with temptations in our own way? What an insult that is to our Lord! What an insult it is to the one who came to this earth, shared in our humanity, and suffered every temptation just to help us with ours.
But let us not overlook that fact: he suffered. Jesus was not only made like us in every way, he suffered for us in every way. He didn’t suffer for himself! He certinaly didn’t go through all of those pains and struggles to earn anything for himself or to prove something to himself. He did it for us. He suffered the same temptations we are bludgeoned with every day. He suffered the same pains, the same losses, the same battles as you do - and even more! Because he had to experience every temptation and every trial of every person who has every lived and ever will! They were piled on Jesus. He carried the load. He suffered the agony. “For this reason,” the book of Hebrews says, “he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.”
Jesus suffered so that he could be our great high priest. One who stands in our place before the throne of God the Father. One who enters God’s presence alone, one who intercedes for his people, and one who makes the sacrifice that will satisfy the payment for sin. This sacrifice, of course, wasn’t a goat or a sheep or a bull as it was in the Old Testament, this sacrifice happened to be the life of the high priest himself. Jesus became both the priest and the offering, both the intercessor and the sacrifice. He died “so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil - and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” And so Jesus understands. He understands the unpleasantness of death first hand because he really and truly died. He understands why you hurt, because he hurt when those around him refused to believe. He understands why you cry, because he cried at the death of Lazarus. He understands why you pray with such desperation at times because he prayed with such intensity in the Garden of Gethsemane that his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. Jesus understands. He understands what you suffer in this life because he has already suffered it himself.
Whatever it is: sickness, loss, stress, pressure, temptation, death - Jesus has already experienced it and more. Take the pain you deal with in your life - physical or mental or psychological - and multiply that by the number of people who have lived in this world and who will in the future. Because Jesus suffered for them all. And Jesus suffered for them all at once. He truly was “a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering (Isaiah 53:3) as Isaiah once described him. He suffered for us in every way. He felt every prick, every tear, every bruise, every weight, every feeling of emptiness that you have ever experienced. He saw the worst of humanity. He was down in the dirt. He was in the alleys. He was on the cross. And that’s something that we can’t understand. We can’t understand what Jesus went through because it’s more than we would ever be able to survive. He understands what we face, but we will never be able to fully comprehend what he went through for us.
Jesus suffered like no one else has suffered. And Jesus died like everyone else dies. But Jesus rose. And Jesus won. Jesus himself took death and Satan and sin head on and he came out victorious. And because he is our faithful high priest, we will come out victorious too. What a nice switch! Jesus shared in our humanity and our sufferings, and we get to share in his glory and perfection! I think we got the better end of the deal, don’t you? Jesus gave up everything and we gain everything. And Jesus wouldn’t want it any other way. Because he understands. He understands what it is to suffer in this sinful world. And he understands what it is to live in the majesty of heaven. And he wants you there. He wants you to experience it with him. He wants you to know what it’s like to be free from sin and pain and temptation. And you will. One day you will join your Savior and all believers at that festival in Paradise. You will finally understand what Jesus worked so hard to give you.
And so go to him. Lean on him. Trust in him. Because he understands. He’s been through it all for you and he wants you to experience it all with him. He clothed himself with flesh and blood so that you could be clothed with the robe of his righteousness. He suffered in every way so that you in every way could be saved. He came here so that you could go there. Jesus understands what’s at stake. He understands what it takes. And he’s already given up his life to save your soul. He’s been where you’re at. And he can’t wait until you are where he has always been.
Amen.

“Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.” - Psalm 68:19-20