Our Suffering Saviour

"Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. ¹⁸ For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted."

Hebrews 2:17-18

God came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ and experienced life as a common person.  Conceived by the Holy Spirit in the virgin Mary, Jesus was carried in the womb and born into this world as a helpless, crying baby.  Whilst we learn often by failure and correction, our righteous Saviour learned obedience by the things He suffered (Hebrews 5:7-8).  He suffered falls, injuries, trials, rejection and grief, yet He continued fervent in prayer and faithful to intercede for others.  Jesus was put to the test in every possible way and has overcome all, our glorious and risen King.

The writer of Hebrews wrote that Jesus was in all things like His brethren, in a human body with physical limitations, under the authority of Joseph, Mary and the Law of Moses.  The book goes on in great detail to show how Jesus was greater than the high priests who offered the sacrifices of clean animals according to the Law for He once for all offered up Himself to provide atonement for sin.  The sacrifice of animals needed to be repeated daily and annually to cover sins, and Jesus established an infinitely better covenant in His own blood that rendered the Law obsolete as a means to approach God.  Jesus opened up a new and living way to fellowship with God by grace through faith in Him that provides spiritual rebirth, forgiveness and pardon of sins, and eternal life.

Verse 18 explains an important principle which is a source of comfort for us:  because Jesus suffered, He is able to help us.  Jesus faced every manner of temptation to sin possible, and yet He remained without sin.  He was put under extreme pressure as He was put to the test and never failed.  Spiritually speaking it would be like putting an object into a hydraulic press and the press breaking from the incredible pressure it created--and the object coming out without a scratch.  But Jesus was not some impervious object:  He was a person made of flesh with feelings, emotions and desires.  With knowledge comes sorrow, and Jesus knew the heart and thoughts of every person.  He was tempted to use His power as God to gain glory for Himself, to humiliate others, to boast in pride, to give place to worry and fear, to satisfy the desires of the flesh or seek comfort rather than submitting to God's will when it meant suffering.

If Jesus had not suffered being tempted, He would not be able to aid us who are tempted.  A prince in a palace who eats royal dainties and is waited on by attendants has no idea of what it is like to live in abject poverty and go hungry for days because there is no food.  Jesus knows what it is like to be hungry, thirsty, tired and sorrowful.  He has personally experienced every temptation to sin and overcame all without sin, so He is able to lead us in the trail He blazed in righteousness.  In fact, Jesus had an infinitely greater capacity to be tempted than anyone else because of the incredible divine power and unlimited resources at His disposal.  We are tempted to lie rather than tell the truth while Jesus could have been tempted to wipe a person's memory of an event, cause them to fall into a coma or drop dead--when He was in another city.

Jesus suffered being tempted, but He did not resist with clenched teeth only focused on Himself.  He was joyful, patient, gentle and kind--all the fruit of the Spirit evident through His life continually even in trials.  He did not commit sin in thought, word or deed and did not leave any good His Father in heaven directed Him to do undone.  Even when it meant going to the cross as a sacrifice for sinners, Jesus did so for the joy that was set before Him.  He wondrously lay down His will in Gethsemane to do the will of the Father and was lifted up on a cross like Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness.  1 Corinthians 10:13 says, "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."  With every test and temptation God allows He also makes the way of escape, and Jesus is the Way.  It is Jesus who helps us when we are tempted to bear it even though we suffer, for He is our merciful and faithful High Priest Who suffered for us and has overcome.