Seeing Jesus in Timothy McCarthy

At 2:27 PM on March 30, 1981 John Hinckley, Jr. attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan. The president had just finished speaking at a meeting of the AFL-CIO at the Washington Hilton. He left the building and made his way toward his limousine, just a short walk across the pavement. Before he could reach the car, however, Hinckley fired six shots at the president. The president and three others were wounded. The wounds were serious. All four people nearly died. But, it is the actions of one of the wounded, before he was shot, that have always fascinated me. Those actions always make me think of Jesus.

When the gunfire started the people on that sidewalk did what most people do when confronted with a source of danger. If they can’t run, then they try to hide. You see the people watching the president all turn away from the sound of the gunfire or get down on the ground. They drew up into themselves. They tried to make themselves as small as possible. Which is a normal, even rational, response in the face of danger. They all did that. Except for one person.

Secret Service Special Agent Timothy McCarthy did something different, something completely counter-intuitive. He did not turn away from the source of danger. He did not make himself as small as possible. He turned toward the gunman and made himself as big as he could. He rose up to his full height. He stretched out his arms. Why? He was putting his own body between the president and the source of danger. He made himself into a human shield. And he was shot in the abdomen, almost losing his life. He risked his life, nearly giving his life, to save the life of the president.

This has always fascinated me. McCarthy’s actions were so contrary to human nature. But more, this seems to me like a picture of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Jesus spread out his arms and made himself a human shield between us and a source of great danger – the wrath of God.

We deserve God’s wrath. And God’s wrath is a far greatest danger to us than an assassin’s bullet. The threat from God’s wrath is greater than any other menace we might face from another person. Jesus said, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).

The wrath of God is a terrible, fearful thing. The wrath of God destroys soul and body, in hell, forever. And, it is what we deserve. Every one of us. It is what we deserve.

What would it be like for the wrath of God to be poured out on us? Did you ever see the news coverage of civil rights protests when local officials used fire hoses against the protesters? The powerful water from the fire hoses knocks people off their feet. They try to stand up, but can’t. The force of the water is too great. It knocks them down again and again. They are powerless before it. Take that and multiple it many times over and that’s what I imagine the wrath of God to be like. It knocks you down and you can’t stand up. It overwhelms. There is no hope before it.

But, Jesus put his own body between the wrath of God and you, and me, and all those who believe. When he was on the cross, part of his payment for our sin meant absorbing into himself all of the wrath of God that should justly be poured onto us. He made himself a human shield. Like Timothy McCarthy did for President Reagan, Jesus used his own body to protect us. But he not only risked his life, he gave his life, so that we could live.

I want to think more about that, about Jesus’s love for me, a love so great that he was compelled to use his own body to shield me. I want to let the knowledge of his love for me saturate my whole being. And I want that knowledge to move me to greater love for him.

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Jesus Understands

Natural human weaknesses, though not sinful in themselves, are usually accompanied by temptations that do prod us to sin.  But Jesus, because he is a real man and experienced all the same weaknesses and temptations that we do, is able to come to our rescue.

One weakness that is not sinful but can easily become an occasion for sin is physical fatigue. When I am tired I often find myself tempted to quit or to break my promises. I give myself excuses to not keep my commitments, because I am weary.

Another way I am tempted to sin when I am tired is I am easily angered. This may come out in full blown angry words or actions, or I might just be irritable or impatient.

Whenever I react to weariness in any of these sinful ways what is really happening is that I am loving myself more than I am loving God and others. And that is the root of all my sin.

But I also know that I don’t have to sin when I am tempted in these ways. And I also don’t have to just tough it out and will myself to not sin, which pretty much always fails. I can come to Christ for comfort, and he will really help, because he really understands.

There was a time when Jesus was so weary from a trip that he just sat down and didn’t go further, while the disciples went off to run an errand. They went to go get food. (See John 4:6-8). Jesus was not lazy and he was not selfish or manipulative. He wasn’t using the disciples because he just didn’t feel like running the errand himself.

If he sent the disciples off while he stayed behind he had to have a reason. The text tells us. He was tired. Knowing that Jesus was tired on this, and, I am sure, many other occasions, gives me great comfort and hope when I am weary. It gives me comfort and hope that I don’t have to sin in my weariness.

Hebrews tells us that Jesus was tempted in every way that we are, yet without sin (Hebrew 4:15). That tells me that when he was tired Jesus too was tempted to quit and to not keep his promises. It tells me that Jesus too felt irritable with people and wanted to snap at them. He knows, he really knows, exactly what that feels like. But he did not sin.

So when I’m tired and feel like I don’t want to go to another meeting, or answer the phone when it rings, or when harsh words rise up to the tip of tongue, when I am tempted to love myself and my comfort more than I love God and love others, I can call out to Jesus for help. And when I do he will say, “I understand,” and he will understand. Because he really has experienced the same thing.

Jesus will be able to strengthen me at just the point of my temptation. He will be able to help me, exactly as I need to be helped, and not only because he is God. He will be able to help me because he is also a real man who has been there and done that, been tempted in exactly the same way, yet without sin.   

With his help, and the strength that he provides, I will be able to love God and others, even when I don't feel like it. I find great comfort and hope that.

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Endless, Bottomless, Boundless Grace and Compassion

In an article in Tabletalk adapted from Sinclair Ferguson's The Trinitarian Devotion of John Owen we read that there is endless, bottomless, boundless grace and compassion for believers found in Christ and this is experienced through our union with Him. Ferguson further quotes Owen that "we cannot spread our sin further than He can spread His grace. To meditate on this, to taste the waters of such a pure fountain [of grace] is surely to know 'joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory (1 Peter 1:8).'"

This endless, bottomless, boundless grace and compassion is real. Believers already have it in Christ. It is there for you when you struggle with whatever life throws at you. It is there for you when you fall short in your sin. However great your need is, the grace and compassion of Christ is greater. 

In his humanity Jesus experienced all of the same struggles and temptations that you face. He understands, really understands. Come to him with whatever problems or difficulties you face today. Think on his grace and compassion for you, let the knowledge of his love for you saturate your heart and spirit. 

In this you will find help, you will find strength, you will find hope.

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