Jesus, the King of Understanding, Part 1
The Bible gives many names for each member of the Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. It says that Christ is the Prince of Peace, the Wonderful Counselor, our Rock, our Fortress in times of distress. Last year I was reading Next Door Savior by Max Lucado and I came up with another name for Christ. I learned to call Jesus the "King of Understanding" because He does understand everything any one of us has ever been through or experienced. Do you doubt that? Then please bear with me for a moment so I can share with you what I learned about my King of Understanding.
In Chapter 2 of Max Lucado's book, he writes about "Christ's Theme Song." Lucado talks about how we may have people in our families who have shamed us by committing crimes or some other immoral acts. Look at Jesus' family tree at the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew, yes, at the very start of the New Testament. Perhaps, growing up, you were treated as inferior to others because you were poor, not because of any meaningful criteria. Christ was a carpenter's son and grew up to be a carpenter himself. He was far from being rich. As a matter of fact, Max Lucado even writes that many scholars believe Jesus was raised by a single mother. The New Testament does not speak of Joseph being there during Jesus' adult life and we know little of Jesus' teenage years either. Max Lucado continues with examples of how Jesus's life parallels things that most of us have either experienced or will experience. After every example, he quotes the chorus to "Christ's Theme Song" which very simply is "I've been there."
Readers, Christ has been there through every event in human history and He knows our joys and sorrows, our pleasures and our pains. Yes, even you readers who either have disabilties or who have loved ones with disabilities, Christ has been there too. There is a passage of scripture that I never noticed until I read Max's book and I want to quote it here. Hebrews 2:17-18 in the Message says, "He had to enter into every detail of human life. Then, when he came before God as high priest to get rid of the people's sins, he would have already experienced it all himself--all the pain, all the testing==and would be able to help where help was needed." In other words, He knows and understands everything that we could possibly go through.
In Part 2, I'm going to post about how we can use this knowledge to get through our struggles and to grow in our relationship with God. Please read part 2 especially if you are harboring bitterness or anger towards God for whatever life has thrown your way. I will focus on this topic for most of part 2.
In Chapter 2 of Max Lucado's book, he writes about "Christ's Theme Song." Lucado talks about how we may have people in our families who have shamed us by committing crimes or some other immoral acts. Look at Jesus' family tree at the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew, yes, at the very start of the New Testament. Perhaps, growing up, you were treated as inferior to others because you were poor, not because of any meaningful criteria. Christ was a carpenter's son and grew up to be a carpenter himself. He was far from being rich. As a matter of fact, Max Lucado even writes that many scholars believe Jesus was raised by a single mother. The New Testament does not speak of Joseph being there during Jesus' adult life and we know little of Jesus' teenage years either. Max Lucado continues with examples of how Jesus's life parallels things that most of us have either experienced or will experience. After every example, he quotes the chorus to "Christ's Theme Song" which very simply is "I've been there."
Readers, Christ has been there through every event in human history and He knows our joys and sorrows, our pleasures and our pains. Yes, even you readers who either have disabilties or who have loved ones with disabilities, Christ has been there too. There is a passage of scripture that I never noticed until I read Max's book and I want to quote it here. Hebrews 2:17-18 in the Message says, "He had to enter into every detail of human life. Then, when he came before God as high priest to get rid of the people's sins, he would have already experienced it all himself--all the pain, all the testing==and would be able to help where help was needed." In other words, He knows and understands everything that we could possibly go through.
In Part 2, I'm going to post about how we can use this knowledge to get through our struggles and to grow in our relationship with God. Please read part 2 especially if you are harboring bitterness or anger towards God for whatever life has thrown your way. I will focus on this topic for most of part 2.
posted by Amanda Brady | 11:41 PM
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