Have you ever had an incident where someone did something and you passed judgement on them, only to find yourself in their same shoes and suddenly everything changed from judgement to compassion? Like you suddenly felt sorry for them?
Hebrews 2:17-18 says this, “For this reason, 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. Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.”
If there is anything at all that we can be thankful for this Thanksgiving, it is found in these two verses right here. Jesus, fully God, became fully man. He had to ”share in our humanity” (vrs. 14) in order to destroy the devil, and free us who were enslaved to the fear of death for our sins. By Him becoming man, He experienced everything we have or will experience…everything. Why? Identification. So He could identify with us.
Jesus, left the glories of heaven and became man so that He would become a merciful and faithful High Priest. Merciful: not giving us what we deserve... that is mercy in a nutshell. Jesus became a man and identified with you so that He could give you mercy. So that He would understand how hard it is to live here on this earth; and even when your intentions would be to follow Him, even though your intentions were good, you still mess it up. Jesus was made man so that you would be understood and shown mercy.
Faithful: never quitting on you. Jesus became a man to identify with the way people so quickly turn on you, so incredibly unfaithful to you. Jesus came as a man, and the very ones He came to save, the very ones He preached to and witnessed healings and miracles, became the very same ones who yelled “crucify Him!”. He knew the pain of unfaithful people, so that He would understand the value of faithfulness, no matter what.
Because Jesus became a man, He can feel what you feel, hurt where you hurt, and understand what you are going through.
Jesus doesn’t respond to you as a judge. He responds to you with compassion.
Jesus sympathizes with your weaknesses. (Hebrews 4:15)
Jesus offers you hope that anchors your soul when life is tough. (Hebrews 6:19)
Jesus intercedes for you. (Hebrews 7:25)
So, no matter what you are facing at this current moment, you can know with great confidence that Jesus understands. He has compassion for you. He sympathizes with where you are, and He loves you. He will show you mercy. He will show Himself faithful to you. He has stepped into your place and paid the penalty for your sin: past, present and future. Whatever you face, God is bigger!
Thank You, Jesus, for Your mercy and Your faithfulness!
Don’t forget to go ahead and get your LOVE book and DVD and sweatshirt and join us for the LIVE study in January! Start your own sisterhood tribe group or join us online! Just go to: https://www.jenaforehand.com/shop