FAITHFUL TO HELP

Hebrews 2:14-18

^“Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could He die, and only by dying could He break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.  Only in this way could He set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; He came to help the descendants of Abraham. Therefore, it was necessary for Him to be made in every respect like us, His brothers and sisters, so that He could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then He could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.  Since He Himself has gone through suffering and testing, He is able to help us when we are being tested.”

Everyone who has ever followed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, Rescuer, Redeemer, and covenant Friend knows the frailty of their own humanity. Before the Lord revealed Himself to us, giving us grace to turn from sin and death and to surrender all we are to live under His gracious rule, we characters were educated and developed in sin. Going our own way was a natural as breathing.

When the Holy Spirit made clear the true condition of our lives, being dead in sin, there was only one singular hope for us. We needed the Holy Spirit to bring about in us a “new birth” that was from heaven, not achieved by human effort. We realized that being spiritually dead and broken, there was no way we could “fix” ourselves. We had to see there was no one more ineffective than a dead man. We desperately needed supernatural help from outside ourselves.

Jesus Christ, being fully human, knows our limitations and weaknesses without ever having sinned. He never internalized nor personalized sin. He alone knows the full-bore power of temptation as He resisted it always to the “nth” degree. His triumph of obedience to the Father out of love took Him to a Roman cross, where in time and in history, He bore the penalty for the sin of the whole of humanity. He alone could break the power of sin, the grave, death, and the devil.

Jesus knows how much we need Him. He is not surprised by our struggles. In fact, He is never disappointed in us because we never surprise Him by what we do amiss. Someone has said that the Lord had already factored in our stupidity when He called us out of death and into life. The Lord knows how to help us when we are tested a little or a lot. We don’t know how He needs to help us and it is folly to think we can advise Him on what we need. He alone knows what we need in times of trial and suffering. We simply need to believe Him and to call out, “Lord Jesus, I am Yours, save me.” That is the prayer martin Luther’s Abbot taught him in a black moment of doubt and fear.

Praying, “Lord, please help!” is a prayer the Lord will never ignore. Trust Him. He really does know you, and is there to help you because you are His disciple and child. He loves you.