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Tempted In All Points.....After All?
“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” (Heb 4:15).
Brethren, does our Savior, Jesus the Christ “feel our pain?” After all, scripture tells us that Jesus was tempted in all points as we are (Hebrews 4:15). Yet we know He wasn't crippled or handicapped. He didn't live through old age. He wasn't forced into retirement and then forced to try to make ends meet on Social Security. How then, can Jesus understand all that humans go through?
What about all the temptations and problems with which we are confronted in this modern world? After all, Jesus didn't live in a society quite like this - in fact, far from it.
If we are to come boldly to God's throne of grace (verse 16), how can we be sure that Jesus understands what we feel and mean? After all, He is God - an immortal, almighty spirit being - we are mere flesh, and very weak. If Jesus has never experienced the exact sufferings that we do, how can He understand our personal needs? Sure, we realize that Paul said most trials are common to all (1 Corinthians 10:13). And in our Christian fellowship we are often surprised and comforted to find someone else who has gone through similar difficulties as ourselves. Yet we each have experienced unique pains, trials and sufferings that we feel no one else can properly understand. And ...we may even wonder whether God Himself can. Is God able to really appreciate the depth of troubles we go through?
That leaves us with some powerful questions. After all, Peter tells us that Jesus suffered for us, leaving us an example (1 Peter 2:21). In what specific sufferings did Jesus lead the way? What confidence can we have that He does understand the personal traumas of each and every one of His people? Let's look at the facts:
First, we need to understand that Jesus was fully physical - He was as much a human being as any of us are. He “made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7). He was “found in appearance as a man” (verse 8). Jesus was as fully capable of experiencing the entire gamut of emotions, physical sensations, pains and human needs as any of us are. Isaiah was inspired to write that even Christ's appearance did not make Him stand out as especially attractive or desirable physically (Isaiah 53:2).
Jesus experienced tiredness and, like any human, needed time to recuperate occasionally from the physical and emotional stress He encountered. He rested at the well of Samaria because He was physically weary (John 4:6). After particular hectic, busy times He would withdraw to areas of quiet solitude in order to clear His mind and recharge His batteries (Mark 6:31).
During the latter part of the first century, false Gnostic teachings arose that Jesus had not, in fact, been fully physical - that He had not truly experienced what it was like to be a human being. The apostle John, in his first epistle, made several strong statements to counteract this heresy: John testified of a Jesus whom “we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled” (1 John1:1). Later John warned those he was writing to, “Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God” (1 John 4:2-3). We today should not make the same mistake of believing that Christ was not fully human and thus could not understand our human feelings and experiences.
We today live in a corrupt society that wallows in government inefficiency, social injustice and violent crime. Our lives are regulated by a multitude of oppressive and many times foolish, laws and regulations. But Jesus lived in a similarly corrupt society. He knew the burdens of taxes and human laws and rules. Jesus lived in Judea under the occupation forces of the Romans. The Romans treated the populace as subjugated peoples and enforced harsh requirements upon them.
One rule was that Jews could be commandeered to carry any Roman soldier's equipment for a mile. It is interesting to note that, in response to such an unfair regulation, Jesus encouraged His followers to go above and beyond and to be willing to carry such burdens two miles (Matt. 5:41).
Jesus also spoke of the repressive laws of the religious authorities of His day: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat [of civil authority]. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not according to their works; for they say, and do not do” (Matt. 23:2-3).
How many of our most serious problems as Christians actually involve members fo our own families or close friends, or opposition from people we must constantly be around and try to get along with such as employers, fellow workers, neighbors, and school officials? Well, Christ had to face similar difficulties.
Jesus was ahead of His time in relation to humanity in general and in relation to His own parents and family. When we become converted - when we start to live God's way of life instead of the way we have been living, former friends do not accept it (1 Peter 4:3-4). Imagine what it must have been like for the only perfect human being who ever lived! After all, Jesus' own brothers did not believe in Him and became frustrated at His refusal to publicly show His powers (John 7:3-5).
Jesus was criticized by the religious community for not having acceptable educational credentials (John 7:15). Because He came from Galilee and Nazareth, Jesus suffered snide put-downs about His heritage: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” asked one man (John 1:46).
In the very hour of Jesus' greatest need, His closest friends deserted Him. In the garden of Gethsemane, His disciples fled when they saw that He would be arrested, leaving Him alone to face the religious authorities and soldiers. The next day many of the disciples were too frightened to be publicly seen near the stake and stood “afar off” (Luke 23:49).
Many of God's people today must suffer physically because of illnesses or accidents. But Christ understands the very depths of physical suffering as well. The gospels reveal that in Jesus' last hours as a human, He was falsely accused, reviled, sworn at, spat upon and slapped in the face. He suffered one of the most brutal beatings ever administered and was then crucified - crucifixion being one of the most painful forms of death ever devised. There is good evidence that He was also stoned while on the stake. Notice Isaiah 52:14, speaking of Jesus: “Just as many were astonished at you, so His visage was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men.” Jesus was barely recognizable as a human! Read also Isaiah 53:3-8, which speaks about how much Christ suffered. These scriptures should be required reading for us prior to Passover.
Jesus did not, humanly speaking, want to suffer and die, any more than any one of us would want to. Humanly, He didn't want to face the excruciating physical pain of crucifixion and eventual death (Matt.26:37-44). But He did; knowing it was His Father's will, in order to pay the penalty of the sins of all mankind. Yet Jesus' teaching was not to respond in kind to evil. He committed His cause to the righteous judge in heaven (I Pet. 2:21-23). His last words before He died expressed forgiveness for those who had caused the evil done to Him (literally, everyone else who has ever lived, including you and me!) Jesus saw His enemies as deceived humans who did not understand what they were doing (Luke 23:34).
Jesus is certainly qualified to understand our sufferings, but we might well ask whether we are qualified to understand His!
Perhaps there are other things Jesus might not have specifically experienced. For instance, He did not marry as a human. On the other hand, He was symbolically married to Israel. And as Creator of all things (Eph.3:9), He has down through time experienced great depths of emotions about what humans have done to other humans. He was “grieved in His heart” before the Flood (Gen. 6:6). We live in an age comparable to the time of Noah, and can be sure that Jesus likewise grieves today over the hurts and sufferings of this age.
If you can identify with some of these examples, then you can know that you do have a faithful high Priest who has walked this physical life ahead of you. He does know what it means to suffer. He is fully qualified to discuss your personal grief and sorrow with God the Father as your faithful High Priest and spiritual intercessor.
Pray boldly and confidently brethren; knowing that with every hurt you suffer, Jesus is a High Priest who hears, knows and truly understands how you feel! After all, we “have a great High Priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 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. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Heb. 4:14-16 NIV).
Pete Fleming
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“After this manner therefore pray ye:”
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“Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever Amen”(Matt 6:9-13).
Quotes
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If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed." -- Mark Twain
I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. -- Winston Churchill
A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. --George Bernard Shaw
A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. ---G Gordon Liddy
Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries. --Douglas Casey
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. --P..J. O'Rourke,
I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts. --Will Rogers
If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free! --P.J. O'Rourke
In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other. --Voltaire (1764)
Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you! --Pericles (430 B.C.)
No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session. --Mark Twain (1866 )
Talk is cheap...except when Congress does it. --Unknown
The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery. --Winston Churchill
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