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It's true, and most of us already know that.
But He was not just God--He was man, too, and I don't know about you, but I don't always want to do what I'm supposed to do.
It occurs to me today that maybe He didn't either.
I will not reject anyone who comes to me because I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of the one who sent me and this is the will of the one who sent me--that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it in the last day.--John 6:37-38
Is it possible that Jesus, as man, was not always crazy about saving us?
That He did not always want to have mercy on the impenitent, on the ungrateful, on the clueless?
That unwillingness was one of the temptations to which He was subjected when He took on flesh?
Was Jesus sometimes tempted to let us have exactly what we deserve rather than to do as He was commanded? Did He sometimes have to grit His teeth to heal another ungrateful petitioner? To preach to yet another unhearing crowd?
And if He did, is it any wonder that I often feel the same?
I do not always want to love, want to forgive, want to extend my hand in kind patience. Today, I find solace in the possibility that Jesus, human like me, might sometimes have felt the same way. Jesus may have saved us, not because He always wanted to, but simply because His Father commanded Him to.
There is glory in this obedience, I think--to do what we do not want to do, what may not even make sense, simply because our Father in heaven has commanded it.
And, in the process, know that even Jesus did the same.
Ah, yes. I am remembering how much comfort I got from finally realizing what an emotional and spiritual struggle He went through at Gethsemane to get to the point of surrendering His will to the Father's. No more beating myself up over "not feeling like" doing what I knew I had to in obedience---if even Christ Himself experienced that! Just go on anyway, and (by His power) do it!
ReplyDeleteNo kidding. Why do I always think I'll WANT to do the right thing? Good grief.
DeleteJoAnne, I am learning more and more these days to by faith and not by feelings. I like this perspective--Jesus did that, too.
ReplyDeleteAlways trying to figure out what human flesh is like when worn by God. This just seemed to make sense in that context. :)
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