A Personable God

 "Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him..." 

Hebrews 5: 8-9

Sometimes I come across, and maybe we even believe that because Jesus is fully God, his death and resurrection were pretty easy and that it wasn't all that bad for him. But this sort of thinking doesn't acknowledge the fact that Jesus was entirely human as well, and that he indeed suffered. Earlier in the passage from Hebrews it says that Jesus "offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death..." He experiences pains and suffering, heartbreaks and grief, joy and compassion, sadness and betrayal by his best friends. 

Jesus knows what we are going through, what we bring him every day in prayer, and especially at every Mass, and it's because he has gone through it too. 

Through his suffering, he showed us an appropriate response to it; he showed us how to deal with our tears, our pains, and our suffering. That is, to turn to the Father and remain close to him through them all. 

If we take a larger scope of Jesus' temptations, they were to put himself and his own desires before God. All temptation tries to disorientate the proper order of the universe... It tries to tell us to put ourselves before God and others. But even though he was fully tempted and felt all the temptations we do, he stays committed. He showed us the proper way through our sufferings, temptations, and pains from the very beginning by continually placing God in his proper position in our lives, number 1.

He learned obedience through suffering. 

We have a personal God, who knows what we have been through and a Son who showed us the proper way through that suffering that we go through. He knows it is not easy. He knows how strong temptation is. He knows how easy it is to say "forget it, God"  But instead he shows us the way and reward of obedience... that reward is being an instrument of his peace- allowing others to go to the Father through our example. 

So today, no matter what you are going through, I encourage you to remain close to God. Although the road can be heavy, stressful, and painful, stay close to our Father, who knows our pains and who desires to help us through them every day. In that way, having been obedient and close to our God, we too shall be made perfect. 

Mike

* This is a rough copy of a reflection I offered in a liturgy of the word for the students this morning. I allowed the spirit to work this morning, and it turned out much better than what I am able to reproduce here. But I thought the message was powerful so I decided to write it out today.  Full reading: Hebrews 5: 1- 10