“What Jesus Gave Up for Us”
There are those of us who believe that Jesus was more than a prophet or a great teacher, though we agree that he was certainly those things too. We believe that he was God in the flesh, dying for the sins of the whole world. We frequently think and speak of Jesus as giving up his life for us.
However, we may miss some of the lesser, but still significant, things that Jesus gave up for us. I was reminded of this by a comment made by a gentleman who was part of a virtual Bible study in which my wife and I are participating.
The Bible study is about learning to walk in the same way that Jesus walked. In our first lesson, we were talking about ways in which the New Testament portrays Jesus living out his empowerment by the Holy Spirit, and how we could live in the same manner.
Jeremy, one of the leaders of the group, wondered if Jesus ever missed having a home, being married, having a “regular” life. Was he ever tempted by the lack of these things? I had never thought of the matter in this way, and I immediately thought of this little vignette from the Gospels:
“Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. And a scribe came up and said to him, ‘Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’” (Matthew 8:18–20 The Holy Bible, English Standard Version
https://accordance.bible/link/read/ESVS#Matt._8:18, accessed 04-27-2020)
I had always thought of Jesus as saying the bit about not having a place to lay his head in a very matter-of-fact way. He was simply warning the scribe what following him would involve.
But do I really know Jesus’ tone of voice? I do not! What if Jesus said this in a wistful voice? What if Jesus really would like to have had a regular home? What if Jesus really wanted to be married and have children? We do not make Jesus more divine by eliminating his humanity. We just make Jesus more inaccessible if we do that.
And I said to myself, “I get so excited about the cross, that I forget all the not-so-little crosses that Jesus bore all the time.”
Probably, Jesus wanted to live “a normal life” as much as anyone. But he didn’t. So, if life isn’t normal for you right now, you’re on in exceedingly good company.
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