Need Someone Who Understands? Jesus does!

Thank you for joining me. I pray the Lord will speak to your heart today, that you will be encouraged to stay the course, to stand firm, to allow His Spirit to minister, guide and direct you by His Word. His Word is Life! Eric

It is vital that we, as Christians or Children of God, grasp in our minds with clarity and certainty who Jesus is and how He relates to us as human beings.

The Word of God reveals who Jesus is in John 1:1-5 and verse 14 (CSB), “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it. ... 14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” ‘Word’ in verse 1 in the Greek is logos. In versebyverseministry.org, the definition of ‘Word’ is: the spoken word or statement that brings into existence and represents the Father’s invisible nature and character. Reading Thayer’s Greek Lexicon gives us added understanding. In Thayer’s, ‘Word’ means : the essential Word of God, i.e. the personal wisdom and power in union with God, his minister in the creation and government of the universe, the cause of all the world’s life both physical and ethical, which for the procurement of man’s salvation put in human nature in the person of Jesus the Messiah and shone forth conspicuously from His words and deeds. Then, I like the statement from the New Spirit Filled Life Bible textural notes: “God spoke the world into existence; in the gospel God spoke His final word through the Living Word, His Son.“ Jesus is part of the Triune God, and as such, He helped speak the world into existence, created us in our mother’s womb and gave us life in our physical being as well as eternally, as our Messiah

However, Jesus was not only fully God, He was also fully man. Jesus was born of a woman or made in human likeness (Galatians 4:4 and 5) and (Philippians 2:6-8).

He was given a body. (Hebrews 10:5) so that He could offer Himself as a sacrifice to take away our sins. (Hebrews 2:14-17).

In Romans 5, we read that one man, Adam, brought sin into the world and one man Jesus Christ, came to bring us God’s provision of grace. It was in His coming as a man and living life as a human without sin that He validated the sacrifice He made for man-kind’s redemption.

It is very important that we understand and remember that even though Jesus was the Son of God, He was also the Son of man.

We need to comprehend how Jesus could be the perfect sacrifice that was needed to pay the penalty for sin. In fulfilling the Mosaic law, the sacrificial lamb had to be spotless and perfect. Hebrews 5:8 (NLT) reveals, “Even though Jesus was God's Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.” The Greek word for ‘suffered’ in this verse means: to suffer, undergo evils, to be afflicted (Thayer’s Greek Lexicon) and to experience ill-treatment, roughness, violence, and to undergo evils from without. (Word Wealth in the New Spirit Filled Life Bible). In Luke 4:1 and 2, we read that Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness, without food, being tempted (to inflict evils upon him) by the devil. His faith, virtue, and character was tested by enticement to sin! Why did He have to go through this?

Hebrews 2:17 answers this question with these words: “it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.” Only a prefect human sacrifice could accomplish the redemption we needed.

Hebrews 4:15 (ESV) reads, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Filling in the Greek meanings, this verse reveals that Jesus can and does sympathize or feel for, has compassion, kindness, tender mercies, grace, favor, tender love, and benevolence for us. He was tempted or tested, tried, proven, and examined in every respect, or in every way, and in all things. The tempting He went through tested his loyalty, strength, opinions, disposition, condition, faith, patience and character. Jesus was tempted in all categories and yet was without sin.

We need to totally apprehend this truth - Jesus came face to face with every temptation we will ever face and yet was without sin! Incredible!

Realize this, because he faced all of these trials and temptations, he can absolutely understand and relate to every enticement, temptation, allurement, or influence you can or will ever face. He has been there! He understands what you deal with and are going through every day!

Jesus experienced and can relate to :

Grief - His cousin, John the Baptist was beheaded. (Mark 6:27).

Hunger - He fasted for 40 days in the wilderness. (Matthew 4:2).

Pain and Shame - He endured the cross. (Hebrews 12:2)

Deliverance - He ministered to and cast 7 demons out of Mary Magdalene. (Mark 16:9)

Rejection - His own town rejected Him and His disciples abandoned Him. (Matthew 15:37, Mark 14:27)

Persecutions - From the religious leaders (Matthew 26:59)

Temptations - 40 days the devil tempted Him in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-9

Being Poor - He had no place to lay His head. (Luke 9:58)

Being Falsely Accused - (Mark 15:3)

Being Falsely Condemned - (Luke 23:4)

Being Crucified - Even though innocent (Mark 15:15)

Being Mocked - Even when on the cross (Mark 15: 29, 32)

He Gained Understanding For:

Suffering from Illness - Ministering to woman who spent all she had and was worse. (Matthew 9:20)

The Heart of the Poor - Declaring the woman who gave two mites, gave the most. (Mark 12:44)

The Consequences of Total Obedience - Sweating drops of blood preparing to go to the cross. (Luke 22:44)

Often times, we feel that no one can possibly understand our trials, struggles, pain, or loss. However, I declare to you today - There is One who absolutely understands and has a heart of compassion and love for you like no other.

Hebrews 4:14 encourages you to hold fast to your confession of faith because Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, praying for you.

He has promised He will never leave nor forsake you.

I encourage you to hold fast to your hope. Even though we all face times of extreme hardship, trials, temptations, pain, or loss, He is always there, waiting for you and me to call out to and come to Him.

Hebrews 4:16 exhorts us to “come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in our time of need.”

“Come boldly” literally means: without reservation, with frankness, with full and open speech. (Strong’s).

Come, tell Him boldly, or cry out to Him concerning what you are struggling with, how you are doing, what you are feeling and what you need. When you come to Jesus, you approach a throne of grace and not judgement. You will receive mercy for the past and grace for the present and future.

Jesus fully understands and sympathizes with what we are facing and will go through. We live in a fallen world and He has guaranteed that we will have tribulation (John 16:33). However, He also informs us that in Him, we can have peace, even a peace that goes beyond our understanding (Philippians 4:17).

“What a Friend We Have in Jesus”,(by Joseph Scriven) excerpts:

“All our sins and griefs to bear, trials and temptations, trouble and all our sorrows share. He knows our every weakness, our load of care, and that we are weak and heavy laden. He knows when our friends despise or forsake us. Take it to the Lord in prayer He will take us in His arms and shield us and we will find a solace there.”

Bring every burden to Jesus, He understands.

CSB Christian Standard Bible

NLT New Living Translation

ESV English Standard Version