To appreciate the man on the cross, you need to know and appreciate what happened before the cross.
“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess” (Hebrews 4:14). This man on the cross is a high priest, who traveled here through the heavens because he’s from heaven and he’s the one, true Son of God. But there are some things that heaven doesn’t know. Like temptation.
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin” (Hebrews 4:15). What this man on the cross didn’t know in heaven he came to know on earth. Weakness. Our weakness. Specifically our vulnerability as humans to be targets for temptation.
Before he came to earth Jesus never knew what it was to feel vulnerable and be under attack by temptation. Just like a virus infecting every fiber of your body. Never letting up. Dragging you down. Robbing your energy and focus. Enticing you to think differently. (When I’m sick, I’m much more susceptible to think skewed thoughts, to believe lies like going to die. You too?) Jesus knows those thoughts because Jesus learned temptation.
Jesus learned to think about talking back to his parents, he learned the cravings of a sexual appetite, he learned to think how good it would feel to lose his temper or quit the Father’s plan for his own ambitions. He learned everything that you think about when you’re tempted and he learned to say no to sin.
He knows how hard it is. He knows how deceiving it is. He learned temptation, and then he earned sinlessness. Earned every ounce of it. It wasn’t given to him. He earned it. And at the cross he gives it to you. But not without help.
“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death” (Hebrews 5:7). This man on the cross didn’t know what it was to need anything, until he came to earth. Then, as a baby he needed his mother’s care. As a teen he needed his father Joseph’s mentoring in the trades. As an adult he needed something else that nobody on this earth could give, he needed to be saved from this horrible suffering and eventual death. As your Savior and as God’s Son, he learned to struggle with that desire, and learned that he needed help in that struggle, his Father’s help and the Spirit’s help too.
The prayers he spoke to his Father were sometimes whispers, sometimes cries, sometimes he was moved to tears, sometimes even sweat and blood. Jesus learned prayer. He learned what it is to need something you don’t have or can’t get on your own, to wonder if it’s the right thing, and to talk to the heavenly Father about it.
The starting place for these conversations, these petitions to his Father, was not, however, selfishness, not out-of-control anxiety, not rebellious independence but, “He was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered” (Hebrews 5:7,8). A son has rights. A son is given special treatment. Refusing those rights, Jesus became fully human and learned the troubles and temptations you endure every day.
Jesus didn’t get a free pass when it came to suffering whatever it takes in order to please God. The Father didn’t wink and tell him, “Don’t worry about it.” The Father did look at him and tell him, “You’re the one. The suffering sacrifice. The Savior.” And Jesus learned to obey his Father not just because he was supposed to, but because he wanted to. He learned to want the cross, because that’s what his Father wanted.
“Accomplished, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him” (Hebrews 5:9). The word “accomplished” is the same word Jesus cried just before he died and said, “It is finished! It is accomplished.” What’s “it?” Your eternal salvation. An endless supply. Forgiveness whenever you need it for however often you sin again. Grace yesterday. Grace today. Grace tomorrow. Life forever. Love that never gives up, never looks away, never forgets.
“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). Here is the throne of endless grace. Here is the rule of a King who governs with mercy. Here is the answer, if you look here first, to everything you’ll ever need. Here is the learning, the lifelong process of living and dying, for you when you are slow to learn.
Here is the cross of a man who himself was once not ready, at one time unprepared for his task, as grace for your unpreparedness. Here is the cross of a man who finished, for all your unfinished tasks and unfound dreams. Here is the cross of a man who experienced weakness and temptation and brought it there to cover the cost of yours.
Come to the cross. Today. Tonight. Every day. Live in salvation. Accomplished.
PRAYER: (Meditate on these words) Jesus learned to obey his Father not just because he was supposed to, but because he wanted to. He learned to want the cross, because that’s what his Father wanted. Here is the cross of a man who accomplished salvation, for all your unfinished tasks and unfound dreams. Here is the cross of a man who experienced weakness and temptation and brought it there to cover the cost of yours.