Meditations In the Word

I grow weary many times of Hollywood writers, actors, and others who, either intentionally or unintentionally, portray Jesus Christ as some sort of weakling faith healer who stumbles around ancient Judea trying to make a name for Himself. How revolting to even consider that the King of kings had any sort of weakness or fear. On the contrary, being completely God and man, He demonstrated amazing resilience, bravery, and strength of character when faced with obstacles you and I would crumble from. The reality is that Jesus is the one who showed us how to overcome adversity, pain, and suffering through His determination to fulfill God’s will.

Let’s look closely at His life here on earth;

FROM THE BEGINNING

• He was born into poverty
• He was raised in a country under foreign occupation
• He was self-restrained, not fully performing His Godhood
• He may have lost His father early in adulthood

IN MINISTRY

• He was not accepted in His homeland by His own people
• He chose 12 followers who often didn’t understand or truly believe what His mission was
• He was hounded by critics everywhere He went
• He spent countless hours, even days healing and ministering to ungrateful, stubborn people, often to the point of physical exaustion
• His adversary the devil was always looking for human frailty to use as an opportunity to destroy Him
• He was constantly discredited by the religious and political leaders of His country
• He was betrayed by one of His inner circle

DURING HIS PASSION

• He wept over the unbelief of Jerusalem, even after all they had witnessed of Him
• He agonized to the point of sweating blood in the garden
• He submitted to a politically-driven mock trial
• He allowed mankind to scourge Him and inflict great pain
• He was humiliated, mocked, spit on, and rejected by those He came to save
• He laid down on a wooden cross and willingly permitted those He loved to drive nails in His hand and feet
• He set aside His deity and died for the sins of His own creation

In all of these experiences that Jesus suffered in the flesh; pain, rejection, suffering, doubt, loneliness, shame, and much more, He never gave in to anger, never let the devil gain opportunity against Him, never gave up. Even more, there is no suffering that we could face that Jesus hasn’t already experienced right here on earth. So when considering these occurrences, I hope you understand why those who would belittle Him for what He did for all of us makes me want to stand up and fight. He is not weak, not in any way. He is not fearful, not in any way. Jesus Christ is strength and He is my example for living in the world, fighting my battles, and enduring adversity. I hope that He is your “shield and buckler” too. What an amazing and wonderful Lord we have in Jesus Christ, our Lord!

I hope that this meditation encourages you in a special way today. May God richly bless you!