As most of you remember and journeyed with us, our daughter Grace went through a very scary illness in the summer of 2010. In the hospital for eleven days and a long recovery afterward left her, and especially her parents, very concerned and overly cautious. Since the illness was attributed to medication, she will now hardly take any medicine, and we are very hesitant to give her any. While most of the doctors we have seen since her illness have been very understanding of our concern we still find ourself wondering if they truly understand the scary journey. Recently, our pediatrician brought on a new doctor into the practice. On one occasion Grace was assigned to this new doctor. As soon as this new doctor entered the room and began to look at Grace’s medical history he immediately commented on her illness. His response, however, was different than what we had experienced from our other doctors. While the others had been caring, understanding, and accepting of our caution, this doctor seemed to have a deeper experience. We soon understood why as he shared that his wife had also had this same illness during their engagement. He had an understanding that went beyond medical books and diagnosis, he understood because he had experienced it personally. He was able to be truly empathetic because he had been there. Suddenly, our conversation took on an entirely different dynamic, we had a shared experience. He understood and we felt even more confident in sharing our concerns and struggles with him as a result.
God became truly empathetic due to the fleshly experience of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ lived the flesh life, He went through temptation, He went through grief, He went through the family experience, He went through the friend experience, He laughed, He cried, He was loved, and He was rejected. He knows what it is to be human. As a result, when we come to Him with our life, He understands because He has been there.
Daily Readings
Monday, January 30, 2012 Luke 4:1-13
When our two oldest children were much younger, Andrea and I were concerned about a recurring situation that was taking place in their classroom. We had visited with the teacher and principal, both of whom shared our concerns. A friend of ours, who had a younger child at the school, had heard of the situation and began to inquire of us. He repeatedly responded by saying, very respectfully, to us “I just don’t understand why this is such a big deal to you.” This went on for most of the semester until one evening I had a phone call from this friend. “I have to tell you about a situation in my daughter’s classroom that happened today,” he began, “I am curious if you have ever encountered anything like it.” He began to describe the same situation that had concerned us for months, the same situation that he had not understood our concern about. He now understood because he now had experienced it from a perspective that provided him true personal understanding.
God’s journey of empathetic understanding of us includes our greatest struggles, even our greatest temptations. The first phase of the earthly journey of Jesus, as an adult, is a time of intense and very personal temptation. He was tired, He was hungry, He was physically and emotionally exhausted, He was as vulnerable to temptation as a person could be. There are actually two wonderful truths for us from the temptation of Christ. The first is that Christ succeeded in resisting temptation, which later is what allowed Him to die for us. The second is that He now understands our journey with temptation, He has been there. He is on our side and cheering us on. He hopes for our victory knowing the true struggle that we go through.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 Luke 4:14-30
My first year in seminary I held a part time job at a bank as a teller. On one particular shift I was greeted by the head of tellers at the bank who wanted to offer me extra hours and a raise. I had only been with the bank for a couple of months so it was somewhat exciting to be greeted by such news. I was walking on a cloud....for a couple of minutes, Next I entered the teller area where my direct supervisor greeted me with an invitation to join her in her office (not actually an invitation but more of a “come in here, NOW!”). She was standing with two gentlemen in very black suits that looked like they were secret security detail for the president. She began to explain to me that I had cashed a check the day before for a man that the FBI was trying to capture, a man whose picture had been on my computer screen since I had begun working at the bank. Then the FBI men began to question me about he man. I did not have the correct answers to any of their questions. I was a really fast teller, everyone knew that, but I was also a very nonobservant teller, a fact that everyone now knew. The men thanked me with a very insincere thank you and left, then my supervisor put me on probation. It was truly a high high and then low low day.
Part of the flesh immersion journey was to experience high and then low experiences. Christ was acclaimed and praised and then went home to rejection. He knew who He was and what He was to do but had to live in a world that did not share that knowledge or understanding.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 Luke 4:31-5:26
Richard Stearns graduated from Cornell University and then received an MBA from Wharton School. He went on to work in many major businesses including serving as president of Parker Brothers and Lenox. In 1998 his vocation took a different turn as he accepted the position of president of World VIsion. In this new position he saw a side of life that had been unknown to him in corporate boardrooms, a world where people were hungry and suffering from living in a fallen world. In his book A Hole in Our Gospel, Stearns detailed his own journey of experiencing and better understanding the pain that so many have no control over yet are subjected to daily. He says that it has been a journey that has changed his perspective on life and eternity.
Part of Christ’s journey of understanding the flesh experience was to understand the toll a fallen world takes on so many that live in it. He saw outright evil and he saw the natural agony of death, He saw the pain it caused those around and those involved. He understands what it is to live in a world that it seldom inviting or welcoming.
Thursday, February 2, 2012 Luke 5:27-6:16
The 1981 film, Chariots of Fire, detailed the olympic experience of British athlete, Eric Liddell. Liddell was a devout Scottish Christian who was surprised to find himself under attack for holding to his Christian principles. Liddell felt the conviction that he was not to work or do other activity on Sunday, a conviction that caused a stir when his first olympic event was scheduled for a Sunday. No one, even the officials of his own government, understood, or agreed with his stance. They argued with him but he held firm and, in the end, he did not run on a Sunday.
As we continue to journey with Christ on His earthly and fleshly experience we now see that He begins to encounter the objection from very unexpected places. As He is holding true to the teachings of God the religious officials feel that He is living in opposition to their manner of living. Even though He is able to prove the Godliness of His actions, the fact that they are different than these officials causes contention. He sees what it is to have a world object to your beliefs.
Friday, February 3, 2012 Luke 6:17-7:50
Apple founder, Steve Jobs, did things differently, often because it was what he had learned from his adopted father. As a young person, living with his parents, he helped his father build a new fence. After they had finished and Steve thought it looked perfect, his dad said, “OK, now we have to go take care of the other side.” Steve questioned his dad about the waste of such effort on something that that no one would see or even know had been done. “We will know,” replied his father. As a computer innovator, Jobs insisted that every aspect of their computers look a certain way. This included the look inside of the computer, even though no one would ever see it. His perspective was revolutionary to many in the industry, and it came from the example and lessons of his father.
The teachings of Christ were revolutionary to the people of the day. Ideas that the poor are blessed and that the hungry will be filled, even more revolutionary thoughts such as “love your enemies,” were outlandish to the people of the day. They were ideas that came from His father. They were ideas that now made perfect sense as He was able to identify with mankind.
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