HE WALKED IN OUR SHOES

HE WALKED IN OUR SHOES

READ:  Hebrews 2:10-18

Because he himself suffered when

he was tempted, he is able to help

those who are being tempted.

Hebrews 2:18

To help his staff of young architects understand the needs of those for whom they design housing, David Dillard sends them on “sleepovers.”  They put on pajamas and spend 24 hours in a senior living center in the same conditions as people in their 80’s and 90’s.  They wear earplugs to simulate hearing loss, tape their fingers together to limit manual dexterity, and exchange eyeglasses to replicate vision problems.  Dillard says, “The biggest benefit is [that] when I send 27-year-olds out they come back with a heart 10 times as big.  They meet people and understand their plights”  (Rodney Brooks, USA Today).

Jesus lived on this earth for 33 years and shared in our humanity.  He was made like us, “fully human in every way” (Hebrews 2:17), so He knows what it’s like to live in a human body on this earth.  He understands the struggles we face and comes alongside with understanding and encouragement.

“Because [Jesus] himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (v.18).  The Lord could have avoided the cross.  Instead, He obeyed His Father.  Through His death, He broke the power of Satan and freed us from our fear of death (vv.14-15).

In every temptation, Jesus walks beside us to give us courage, strength, and hope along the way.  

DAVID MCCASLAND

LORD JESUS, THANK YOU FOR “WALKING IN OUR SHOES” ON THIS EARTH AND FOR BEING WITH US.  MAY WE EXPERIENCE YOUR PRESENCE TODAY.

Jesus understands.

INSIGHT

Having affirmed the superiority of Christ because of His deity (Hebrew 1), the writer of Hebrews now focuses on His humanity (2:5-18).  It was necessary for Christ to become “flesh and blood” (v.14) so that He could “make atonement for the sins of the people” (v.17).  That Jesus-who was “fully human in every way” -had to suffer in order to save us is a constant emphasis in Hebrews (vv.9-10, 17-18; 5:8-10).  Jesus told His disciples many times that He must suffer (Matthews 16:21; 17:12; Luke 22:15; 24:26), and Isaiah prophesied it 700 years earlier (Isaiah 53).  SIM KAY TEE