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by Logan Ames

Nelson Mandela once said, “Lead from the back and let others believe they are in front." To some degree, this describes the humility that Jesus portrayed in his life. As we saw in last week’s post, Jesus suffered under the governor Pontius Pilate, who, though others may have worshiped him and held him in high esteem, was nothing compared to the authority that Jesus had from above. But there was a purpose in all the pain that Jesus went through. Each time he endured suffering and did not give into the temptation to rid himself of it, he won a victory that makes it possible for us to win such victories when WE are suffering and tempted. That seems to be the main point of what the writer of Hebrews is saying in Hebrews 4:15-16, as we looked at last week. Jesus was tempted in every single way that we are, yet he did not sin. This means we can approach the throne of grace boldly and ask our Lord for help when we are deeply struggling. He gives us what we need to endure it and keep moving forward. Could you imagine what it would be like for us if Jesus had actually given into temptation and sin? We’d all be doomed!

God did not want to leave us in that position. You see, God is both distant AND near. He’s distant in the sense that he spoke the universe into existence and is greater than our finite minds can even comprehend. We’ll never understand or be able to contain him. But he’s near in the sense that he saw our unformed bodies and knit every single human being together in our mothers’ wombs (Psalm 139:13-16). He’s also near in the sense that he chose to come to our messed up world in the person of Jesus Christ and deal with all of the things we deal with. Could you imagine how life was for Jesus as a teenager? You can picture him being in a typical teenager argument with his parents and them saying, “Whatever, smart aleck, I guess you just think you know everything." And Jesus could’ve responded, “Um, yeah, because I DO." He knows how many hairs are on their heads, knows what’s on their minds, and even knows who actually finished all the cookies. But Jesus came to show us how to live and act as his disciples, which meant he rarely played the “I’m God” card even when he could. Luke 2:51 tells us that Jesus was even “obedient to his parents." They were sinners; he wasn’t. Yet, he showed us that the temporary suffering of having to obey them leads to a greater reward.

This is true with not only our relationships with our parents, but with God as well. Jesus tells us that being his disciples means we have to deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow him, because we can literally gain everything in the world and still lose our souls and have no eternal hope (Mark 8:34-35). As a man, Jesus had enough faith in his Father to trust that the temporary suffering would lead to something much better and that it was all part of the Father’s plan. He knew that even during his suffering, he and his Father remained in control, even if those around him thought he was being defeated.

In this week’s root of our faith, we look at how Jesus specifically suffered through crucifixion, death, and burial. While none of this felt like victory to anyone who loved and followed him, God was in control every step of the way. Each part of this process was a necessary VICTORY for us as believers. Jesus was CRUCIFIED because the weight of the whole world’s sin required such a great payment. There is so much theology in the Bible about it that we could write multiple posts on it, but it will suffice to just draw your attention to Romans 5:15-19, where Paul describes that the gift and sacrifice of Jesus, which brought freedom and grace to the world, was greater than the trespass of Adam, which brought sin into the world.

In reality, when Jesus went to the cross, God was just fulfilling his promise made to Abraham in Genesis 15:8-18. If you read it on your own, you’ll see how God does this bizarre ritual with Abraham where he has Abraham cut various animals into two. In that tradition, when two people walked through the halves of the animals, they were making a binding covenant with one another that stipulated that if either one breaks the covenant, they would be as dead as those animals. But what you see in verse 17 is that God appears while Abraham is in a deep sleep and passes through the pieces BY HIMSELF. On that day, the covenant that God made was that even if Abraham or his descendants break their end of the covenant, God would be “as dead as the animals." Thus, when Jesus was crucified for OUR sins, it wasn’t pretty. It was every bit as gory as that scene where the animals were cut in two.

After Jesus was crucified, he actually died. This was also a necessary victory for us because it was what WE deserved. Romans 6:23 says death is the penalty for sin, so Jesus couldn’t just suffer badly and “almost” die, only to make a full and miraculous recovery. He had to go through it all the way in order to pay for our sin. Anything less would not have saved us. Could you imagine going shopping for a new car and telling the owner you would work really hard, save the money, ALMOST buy the car, and then expect the owner to give it to you? That’s obviously ludicrous but that’s why Jesus had to die to win the victory for us. God required the full payment for sin, and in the person of Jesus, he took that debt on himself.

Even Jesus’s burial was necessary in his work of salvation and redemption for all who trust in and follow him. To completely atone for our sins, he had to separate us from them. You may have heard in a song called "Glorious Day" by Casting Crowns the lyrics "buried he carried my sins far away." You may know those lyrics and sing them, but you have to know what they mean. This goes back to the idea of the Day of Atonement from the Old Testament, the Yom Kippur. Leviticus 16 tells us all about it. It's where the priest went through this whole routine ordained by God and takes a live goat, lays both hands on it, and confesses all of the sins of all the people onto the head of the goat, and then sends it away into the remote wilderness never to come back again. The sins are transferred to the goat and the goat carries them far away. Incidentally, this is where the term "scapegoat" first originated. Psalm 103:12 tells us that God has removed our sins from us “as far as the east is from the west." That's why Jesus had to be buried. His death paid for our sins, but his burial took them so far away from us that we'll never see them again! So, what does that mean for you today? Stop living in your past sins. If you trust Jesus, they are buried and gone and they are NEVER coming back!

Have you been walking in the victory that Jesus’ crucifixion, death, and burial have provided you? Yes, we know that the ultimate victory is what we’ll deal with next week - the resurrection. But it’s important to know that choosing to endure suffering and temptation because of our trust in the Lord to bring something good out of it is what Jesus demonstrated for us each step of the way. Since we are now living on the other side of Jesus’ resurrection, we can know that his willingness to suffer brings us victory as we choose to endure and overcome it in our own lives. May God grant you the strength, mercy, and grace that you need to keep going!

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