Jesus gets us
We begin Hebrews with a great reminder of Jesus' humanity
Verse of the Day: “Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.” - Hebrews 2:18
“Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing”......We begin Hebrews with a look into why Jesus came to the earth and why he had to come as a human being. In Jesus’ time on earth, He went through everything that we could ever think of in the form of suffering and testing. Whether it was waiting 30 years (!) to begin his ministry (let me pause for a second, can you IMAGINE being the son of God, knowing literally everything, and having the patience to wait 30 years to perform miracles that you always had the capacity to perform?), or going 40 days in the wilderness without anything to eat or drink and still denying satan, or dying the worst kind of death on the cross to save humanity, Jesus is the perfect example of resilience. Jesus went through it all. He gets us.
“He is able to help us when we are being tested”......I think it’s important to emphasize the word ‘tested’ here. We need to understand that God tests, but does not tempt. Only the enemy tempts. God tests. He tests us to see if we are ready to receive what He has prepared for us. Testing is vitally important in our walk with Jesus. If we avoid the tests that God presents to us, we will never grow in our faith and walk more deeply in our purpose.
James, the blood brother of Jesus, says “for you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” Our faith must be tested, because endurance is needed to run this race. If we do not have endurance, we will not be able to finish the work that God has prepared in advance for us.
Jesus understood the importance of every test, and passed with flying colors. We can be confident in our tests and in our struggles, because we have a Lord and Savior who has been through everything we’ve been through - and then some.
This should strengthen us in our battles and give us peace. We should be honored any time God tests us, because that means that He believes in our ability to overcome. When we team up with Jesus, dragons can be slayed, chains can be broken and any setback can be redeemed. We must do life with Jesus, as He is the wisest guide that we could ever have as we navigate through this broken world.