Sunday, January 14, 2007

Jesus Feels Your Pain

Leviticus 2:4

4“And if you bring as an offering a grain offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil.”

Private pains, deep hurts, shameful addictions — you may think that nobody understands what you are going through, but God does. He feels all your pains and is able to help you. (Hebrews 2:18, 4:15)
In the Old Testament, the grain offering brought to God speaks of Jesus’ life on earth. The fine flour, which the grain offering is made with, is flour that has been pounded, ground, beaten and sieved through to get it consistently even and fine. Therefore, it typifies the humanity and sufferings of Jesus.
One of the ways the Jewish women baked the grain offering was to use an oven. The baking done in the depths of the oven implies that there were “hidden” sufferings that Jesus went though. I believe that Jesus faced sufferings that we cannot fully understand. Even as a young boy, He must have gone through sufferings that prepared Him to die for all humanity at the cross. And during His ministry years, it must have grieved Him when time and time again He found unbelief not just in the people around Him, but even in His own disciples.
Jesus also suffered at the hands of men — slanderers who misunderstood Him. Once, the Pharisees insinuated that He was born out of wedlock because His mother was with child before she married Joseph. (John 8:39, 41) That scandalous remark, probably not the first, must have wounded Him deeply.
Consider also the temptations He faced. There were not only three. God’s Word says that He was tempted for 40 days! (Luke 4:2) Not all the temptations were recorded. Those 40 days must have tried Him sorely.
What does all this mean? My friend, Jesus went through all those temptations and sufferings for you, yet He did not sin. (Hebrews 4:15) There is no temptation or suffering you are going through that He cannot empathise with. So come to His throne of grace today and receive His superabounding grace to face and overcome those trials in your life!

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