The One Who Knows Us

The Advent story is one that introduces some foundational tenets of our faith. One of those is that of divine empathy. To the church in Rome, Paul boldly exclaims God’s omniscience; nothing is beyond His knowledge. “Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge!” (Romans 11:33).

And as the passage from Hebrews pictured above suggests, this knowledge includes a deep relational understanding of what it means to be human. One of the great comforts of our faith is knowing we have a High Priest, Jesus, who feels what we do in today’s ever-changing times. The writer of Hebrews states our High Priest is intimately aware of our weaknesses. While some translations use the word “sympathize” (NKJV) or “empathize” (NIV) the message is clear, God enters our pain. 

Jesus doesn’t need to imagine what it’s like to be human. He was human and experienced the full scope of humanity; born to poor parents, being tired, feelings of betrayal by closest friends, unjustly judged, crucified, and dying, to name a few. In a shocking passage, Jesus even knows what it’s like to feel God as distant or non-responsive. “My God, my God,” He exclaims from the cross, “why have you forsaken me? (Mt. 27:46). No, Jesus doesn’t have to imagine our pain, He felt it himself.

This Advent we can be assured that although Jesus doesn’t promise us a life with no Herods present in it, He does promise us that He, Emmanuel, is with us and will
hold our hope with us.

Let your hope be an active one this season as you make the choices daily to seeking Him.

Colleen