Christ became like us so we could become like Him. He came to earth in the flesh and suffered in the flesh so that we could become His brothers and sisters. Only One who is both fully man and fully God could accomplish our salvation for us.
"Both the One who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. He says, 'I will declare Your name to My brothers and sisters, in the assembly I will sing Your praises.' And again, 'I will put My trust in Him.' And again He says, 'Here am I, and the children God has given Me.'" (Hebrews 2:11-13) These quotes are from Psalm 22:22 and from Isaiah 8:17-18. Psalm 22 is considered a Messianic psalm, with Jesus quoting from it while on the cross. It contains several prophecies regarding the crucifixion. Yet it is the crucifixion itself that allows Jesus to call us His brothers and sisters, for if He had not come in the flesh and had not taken our punishment on Himself, He could not identify Himself with us and we could not identify ourselves with Him. Through faith in His death and resurrection we are born again, becoming the children of the living God---children of whom He is not ashamed. We can now call God "Father" just as Jesus did. We can now come to God with the same confidence Jesus had that He will hear us and will help us.
"Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might break the power of him who holds the power of death---that is, the devil---and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death." (Hebrews 2:14-15) This passage reminds me of the lyrics of a song called "Christ Is Risen". In that song it says, "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling over death by death." Who would have thought that death could conquer death? Or, as the prophet Isaiah said when he foresaw the suffering of Christ, "Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" (Isaiah 53:1) In other words, The Message Bible translates Isaiah 53:1 like this, "Who believes what we've heard and seen? Who would have thought God's saving power would look like this?" Whichever version of the Bible you use, Isaiah is asking, "Who would have thought that death could conquer death?" The entire chapter of Isaiah 53 talks about the Messiah not looking the way we expected Him to look, and not being who we expected Him to be, and not receiving what we expected Him to receive. Instead of a king's crown, He wore a crown of thorns. Instead of a royal throne, He hung on a cross. Instead of honor and glory, He was buried in a tomb. But thanks be to God, He didn't stay there! He did something no one expected Him to do: He rose from the dead, proving that He's who He says He is, demonstrating for us that His sacrifice is acceptable to God for all our sins, and leaving no doubt that He is more than able to handle anything we bring to Him.
To bring us out of the darkness of sin and into the light of the living God, Jesus had to become like us. He didn't become like angels; He became like fallen man. He temporarily laid aside the glory that was His to become a human being. "For surely it is not angels He helps, but Abraham's descendants. For this reason He had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that He might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted." (Hebrews 2:16-18)
The One who is fully God became fully man. Because He was fully man, He was able to feel the same things we feel. Temptation comes in many forms. Sometimes it's the lure of doing something wrong and sometimes it's the struggles we go through as we deal with the trials of this life. Satan threw every imaginable temptation at Christ. I think he hit Him with everything possible to try to make Him become an unacceptable sacrifice or to try to make Him bypass the cross and take the throne of David by supernatural means and by force. But because Christ was fully God, He did not sin. He didn't give in, but I think He felt the lure of temptation and I think He dreaded the pain and suffering of the cross so much that it weighed Him down terribly. After all, on the night before the crucifixion He said, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death." (Matthew 26:38, Mark 14:34) I've felt worried to death at times, haven't you? So has Jesus! The holy Son of God, who is deserving of the highest honors, knows what it's like to be so burdened down He can barely keep going. This is what qualifies Him to be the mediator between God and us, because He appeals to God for us with a heart full of compassion and love.
When someone we know is going through the same type of things we've been through, our prayers for them are filled with understanding and compassion. We appeal to God for them in a special way because we've been where they are. We are able to comfort and encourage them because we've experienced the same troubles and have survived them by the grace of God. The same can be said of our Great High Priest. He can pray for us like no one else can because He's been where we've been. He's felt what we've felt. His humanity taught Him what it's like to be us, and because He is God, He has the power to endow us with the strength we need to make it through.
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