Made like us
in all things but sin, Jesus needs no one to tell
him about the human heart, for he has taken our heart as his own heart. The Letter to the Hebrews says that Jesus was tempted in every way
that we are but did not sin- in every way that we are. Imagine the breadth of
that statement. Think of all you go through, all you feel, all the ways
you are tempted; and imagine Jesus feeling it all with you. It never ceases to
astonish. The Letter to the Hebrews goes on: “We do not have a high
priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been
tempted in all things as we are, yet apart from sin. Therefore let us draw near
with boldness to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find
grace to help in time of need.” Jesus knows, Jesus understands. He shares our
flesh and blood and knows well what yanks at our hearts because “he himself
likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy” all
that threatens to draw us away from God. Imagine then the sympathy of Jesus; literally he feels as we do. He speaks to us not from
above, but from deep within us.
Photograph by Charles O'Connor.