John 1:14 (NIV)
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
Isaiah 53:3a,4a (NIV)
3 He was…a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
4 Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
“And that flesh that the Son took on was true, full, complete humanity…Whatever it means to be human (and to be human without sin), Jesus was and is. And emotions are an essential part of being human…One implication of this truth of Christ’s permanent humanity is that when we see the feelings and passions and affections of the incarnate Christ toward sinners and sufferers as given to us in the four Gospels, we are seeing who Jesus is for us today.” (Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly)
Today as we consider the full and true and permanent humanity of Jesus, we can be deeply thankful. He is not our Savior from a distance, staying clear of all the difficulties we go through, external and internal, but he entered fully into our very experience. And as we look at how he interacted with people in the Gospels, he’s the same today. His heart, his compassion, his willingness to enter into our suffering—it’s not a past event. It’s how he loves us now, in the middle of our mess and our brokenness.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for becoming flesh, for knowing what I feel and go through, for bearing my pain and suffering. Help me to receive and experience the feelings and passions and affections that you have for me today. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Let’s worship our Savior who is still reaching out to us today in love to “Son of Suffering” by Matt Redman (click here).
-KW
