Today’s Daily Bread ~ Blessed Counselor

1 John 2:1-2 – My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin.  But if you do sin, there is someone to plead for you before the Father.  He is Jesus Christ, the One who pleases God completely.

We’ve reached an amazing milestone at my house; one I feared would never come.  My children are now close enough physically and cognitively to actually play with each other.  It doesn’t happen every day, and oftentimes fights will break out, but every now and then I’ll get to enjoy an hour or even an afternoon in which they simply play and enjoy each other’s company.

Yesterday, as a matter of fact, they were playing Mary and Joseph by the Christmas tree.  I was listening from the kitchen, heart absolutely melting and they reenacted the birth of Christ to the best of their knowledge and abilities.  Caitlyn’s talking doll Lacy (otherwise known as Baby All-Gone) assumed the role of baby Jesus.

As is often the case, one of them broke “the rules” and they started screaming.  I ran to the scene to defuse it, and saw that my son was at fault.  Not only that, but he was getting into the Christmas ornaments (strictly forbidden).

“Nick,” I said sternly, “If you can’t play nicely you’ll go to room.  And you know you have to leave the ornaments alone.”

Much to my surprise, my daughter quickly jumped to his defense.  “No mommy, it’s ok.  It was an accident.  You don’t have to send him to his room.”  I had to blink a few times and pinch myself to see if I was really awake.  “I need him to play Joseph.  Look, I’ll let him hold Jesus.”  Done.  There was no way I was going to interrupt the game, and if they could work it out amongst themselves, all the better.

That really was a precious moment for me.  Caitlyn, who is also Nick’s greatest accuser, rushing to his rescue and arguing on His behalf, even though she had been wronged.  Perhaps her motives were a touch selfish, but it paints a nice picture of grace.

In Zechariah 3:1-2, we read about our accuser: Then the angel showed me Jeshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD.  Satan was there at the angel’s right hand, accusing Jeshua of many things.  And the LORD said to Satan, “I, the LORD, reject your accusations, Satan.  Yes, the LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you.  This man is like a burning stick that has been snatched from a fire.”

The nuggets the Bible gives us about Jesus and His humanity are so few, not nearly enough to satisfy my curiosity.  But if I might take an imaginative liberty here, I wonder if Jesus pleads so fervently with the Father because He has genuine empathy for us.  To sympathize means to feel sorry about someone’s situation. You feel sorrow for them; your heart hurts for them.  But to empathize means that you truly identify with and understand a person’s emotions.  You feel how they feel; you can put yourself in their shoes.

For some reason I’ll never understand, churches today tend to play down the human side of Christ.  To me, His humanity is what makes the cross so magnificent!  We know that Jesus was fully divine, yet fully human.  He felt every temptation.  He didn’t wave a wand and make his human desires and yearnings go away, He struggled with them and won!  He stepped off His heavenly throne, away from omnipresence, and confined Himself to somewhere between 5 feet, 4 inches and 5 feet, 7 inches (average height of the ancient man) of space.  He relied on calories to make His body work, and sleep to keep His mind alert.  He felt pain, He got hungry and thirsty.  He experienced joy, peace, anger and fear. 

He always called upon His Father, and always walked in obedience, but He also always had a choice.  At the time of His arrest, Jesus admonished a disciple for trying to protect Him:  “Put away your sword,” Jesus told him.  “Those who use the sword will be killed by the sword.  Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for twelve legions of angels to protect us, and He would send them instantly (Matthew 26:53)?” 

He could’ve chosen to save Himself.  But He didn’t.  He chose to save you.  Romans 8:34 – Who then will condemn us?  Will Christ Jesus?  No ,for He is the One who died for us and was raised to life for us and is sitting at the place of highest honor next to God, pleading for us.

Every time Satan makes an accusation, Jesus says, “I paid for that sin.  Her debt is forgiven.  His sins have been washed away.”  I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to think that perhaps one reason He pleads without ceasing to the Father is because He knows just how we feel.  Fully God, but fully man.  And still choosing to take on the sins of the world so that He could bring us to Himself.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You so much for Your Son!  How comforting it is to know that He loves us so much that He pleads for us.  That is such a precious picture, God, please don’t ever let us take it for granted!  We ask that You would humble us.  Knowing that our Savior took on sin for us, help us to look on others with His compassion and love.  Help us not to judge others, God, but instead simply live out our faith.  We pray for strength and courage.  We pray for wisdom and discernment.  We pray for Your peace and Your joy.  God, we ask that You would bless us to be a blessing to others.  We thank You in advance for these things as we pray in the beautiful name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.  Amen.