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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Jesus, The Leper and The Touch of Love

What’s the one thing you want more than anything else? Fame? Fortune? A great tennis backhand? For most people, what they want more than anything else is to feel loved and wanted.

It is something that I longed for all of my life. But for most of my life the longing was never totally fulfilled. Then one day I read a story about Jesus that caused everything to change for me. It was a story that I had read many times before, but this time something about it penetrated deep into my heart and soul in a way it never had before. Which story? The story of Jesus cleansing the leper in Mark chapter 1.

And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean (Mark 1:40-42).

That time that I read this story I was at one of the lowest points of my life. I was feeling acutely aware of my sin, aware of how I had let down people who loved me and depended on me, aware of how far short I’d fallen from the life of righteousness that God requires and deserves from me. I remember feeling like I’d been soaked in filth, like I was covered with open oozing sores.

Then I read that story.

                                                                                                                                                            Leprosy was a terrible, incurable disease. Having it made someone unclean and the law forbid him from contact with other people. Lepers were not allowed to live in towns. They had to live in camps outside the city. If for any reason a leper had to come into town he was required to shout “Unclean! Unclean!” to warn others to stay away. What do you think that did to someone’s self-image?

It was a terrible existence. No one was more unloved and unwanted than were lepers. Imagine going through your life like that. No one loves you, no one wants you. And if ever you happened to come close to someone they would recoil at even the thought of accidentally brushing up against you. Horrible.

That’s how I felt. Not physically. But emotionally and spiritually, I felt a leper. I felt unclean and untouchable.

Then I read this passage. Jesus wasn’t repelled by this man’s leprosy. He wasn’t disgusted. He didn’t turn away from him, as I felt people did with me.

Then I noticed, as if for the first time, what Jesus did. He moved toward the man and he touched him.

Jesus wasn't compelled to touch him in order to heal him. Though he did so many times, Jesus didn’t have to touch people to heal them. All he had to do was say a word and the man would have been cleansed.

Jesus could have said, “Okay, now you just keep your distance over there while I clean you up first.” Jesus could have backpedaled away from him while saying, “be clean” and the man would have been cleansed. But, that’s not what Jesus did. Jesus knew it had been a long time since anyone had come near this man or touched him. Jesus wasn't just interested in healing the man, he wanted to love him.

So the first thing Jesus did was he moved toward him and touched him. Even before he healed him, he touched him.

The moment I read those words something popped open in my heart. I saw that I was the leper. I was covered with oozing sores of sin that caused people to turn away from me. But that didn’t matter to Jesus. He was saying to me, “I am not repelled by you. I love you and I accept you just as you are. You don’t have to change anything for me. I come to you. I embrace you. I love you.”

Jesus loved me just as I was, sin and all. He wanted me. That’s grace. That’s the gospel.

Of course, he didn’t leave me the way I was. Just as Jesus didn’t leave the leper in his leprosy but made him well, Jesus has been making me well ever since. But I have never again, since that day, ever felt like there was no one who loved me and accepted me. I know that whatever else happens, Jesus does.

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