Ours Is a Victory in Jesus: Part Two

Hebrews 2: 17, 18

Because of Christ’s suffering on the cross, He is our companion in our pain and problems. We all suffer. There is no immunity. He too suffered. He did so not to keep us from suffering but to make our suffering like His so we can relate to each other.

The same shaking that makes polluted water stink makes perfume aromatic. For some people, suffering makes them bitter. Others, it makes them better. It depends on your nature.

Jesus Christ can relate to you in your suffering, and in your temptation. “We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4: 15)  He can relate. 

Jesus Christ was the firstborn son of an oppressed teenage girl. As a lad He walked the streets that were occupied by foreign Roman troops. He knew what it was like to deal with arrogance. As a teen He knew the frustration of having parents who didn’t understand His nature. Every Biblical evidence is that His paternal guardian, Joseph, died when He was a child. If so, as the elder son He knew the burden of providing for a family. He can relate to those of you who suffer because of unreasonable demands for service. He felt the rising tide of political hostility and recognized the pressure of the anti-spiritual vice that eventually squeezed the breath out of Him. He knew what it was like to be unjustly accused and unfairly condemned. He knew what it was like to experience physical pain and exhaustion as He hung on the cross and His bones pulled out of their sockets while the relentless heat slowly dried His blood as it drained on His brutalized body. He knew what it was like to experience an isolation that made it appear God the Father was nowhere near. Indeed, He was one of us.

Tears fell from His eyes when sorrow gripped His heart. A smile curled His lips when gladness entered His thoughts. His stomach ached when He experienced hunger. He perspired when physically extended. He knew gnawing grief. He had to act in faith. He knew temptation to its extreme.

Never can we cry out, “God, You don’t understand!” He does.

Ours is not merely an indifferent cosmic God. He not only knows when you hurt and feel pain – He did the same.

Athletes are encouraged to have a coach who was an athlete.

When you are sick it helps to have a good doctor who has been sick and knows what it is like.

The cross is the centerpiece of Christianity. There Jesus Christ overcame Satan and set us free. 

Jesus assumed responsibility for all of our spiritual debts and assumed responsibility for us.

There, by His suffering, He became our perfect Savior and sympathetic friend.