Jesus Did You Know?

article from the 12/21/16 Weekly Update by Tim Keller

Jesus left heaven to come to earth to die for our sins. He did just that; and it was awesome, but it wasn’t easy.

Being in human form was not an entirely new experience for Jesus. He had made several appearances as a man in the Old Testament. This, however, was different. He had never been a baby before, or a child, or a teenager or a young adult. Think about it; each one of these stages in life is riddled with emotional challenges and physical struggles. Yet we often think that somehow for Jesus there must have been no awkward circumstances that tested Him. Wrong.

His Old Testament trips to earth had usually been for specific encounters with individuals. Now, He was working with human beings on a daily basis. Surely this had to be hard for Him given the fact that for all of eternity He had enjoyed the exclusive fellowship of His Father and Holy Spirit. The mistakes, the selfishness, the absence of faith and the presence of fear must have been just a few of the things Jesus observed that left Him pondering His commitment to die for this bunch. Yet, His love was strong enough to win the day and frame His decision to lay down His life.

I’m not sure, but I think that helps me. Knowing that it must have been hard to work with people and the fact that He still did allows me to be honest about the struggles of ministering to people and yet continuing to do so.

Did Jesus know that His thirty-three plus years on earth would involve moments of hunger more intense than anything He had ever felt before? Did He know that the sun in Israel would beat down on His head and cause Him to sweat profusely? Did He know the pain that the crucifixion would present Him would be so horrible that a new word would have to be created just to capture it?

This wasn’t an easy transition from heaven to earth. Though it was a great love that brought Him to earth, it was also a great love that kept Him here. When it got tough, His desire to please the Father got stronger.

Perhaps we should ponder that the next time our efforts to glorify God are not met with enthusiasm and celebration. When our attempt to do the right thing is met with indifference or even attack, our righteous response is not to be a whine and whimper, but a stoic endurance that keeps us going.

You may not soon see a Christmas card image with a gutty tolerance of pain featured on it. Yet, it was just that tough love that made Christmas happen.