“Jesus was a human. Just like me. That’s amazing, right?!?! He really gets me! He can truly understand and empathize with me. He has been where I am and made it through, without sinning. I can look to him for examples and advice in every situation.”
Well, that’s what I want to say. My head and my Bible both tell me that it’s true. But, since the internet invites confession from behind a screen, I’ll tell you what my sinful heart really says –
“Jesus was a single man who lived in a time with no running water or internet, when a fish and some rolls were an acceptable meal and a big sheet with a belt was high fashion. He was famous, surrounded by friends, and HE WAS GOD. Yes, He was sad and frustrated and angry and happy but his life was nothing like mine. He doesn’t have any idea what it’s like to have children literally climbing on you every minute of the day. He hasn’t felt social media pressure to get all the things right, all the time. He can’t imagine the isolation that comes from having to make your schedule around naps and fevers and tantrums. He wasn’t married, so he has no advice on what to do when your husband won’t stop putting empty peanut butter jars back in the fridge. He doesn’t know that empty, sinking feeling when your friends stop calling because you’re a mom now and they don’t know how to relate. Jesus is wonderful and I love him, but he couldn’t possibly understand ME.”
But.
Then I began a study of the gospel of Mark.
2:1-2 “…It was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door”
2:13 “…and all the crowd was coming to him”
3:7,9 “Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed….he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him”
3:20 “Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat”
3:32 “And a crowd was sitting around him”
4:1 “…a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea”
5:21 “….a great crowd gathered about him”
5:24 “…a great crowd followed him and thronged about him”
5:31 “…you see the crowd pressing around you”
6:31 “….for many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat”
6:33 “they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them”
6:56 “and wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplace and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment”
7:24 “…an he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden”
It goes on, but I’ll stop for now.
So maybe Jesus does know what it’s like to be “touched out” because people crowded around him all day long.
Maybe Jesus just wanted five minutes of peace but the crowds raced to find him wherever he went.
And if that’s true, well….
Maybe Jesus did face the pressure of the religious leaders to live up to a ridiculous, unachievable standard.
Maybe Jesus got frustrated when the crowds and the disciples didn’t understand after seeing miracles and hearing parables.
Maybe Jesus had hurt feelings when the people of his hometown, the ones he grew up with, rejected him and tried to throw him off a cliff.
Maybe Jesus was devastated when he asked his best friends to pray with him in his darkest hour and they fell asleep.
It turns out that Jesus gets me after all.
He is not a god who watches and judges us from a distance. He is The God who chases us down and sacrifices everything so that we can be with Him. The God who loves us enough to put Himself in our place and take on our struggles. I can pour my heart out to him without fear because he’s been there. I can trust him with all of my fears and frustrations.
You can trust him, too, Mama. Pour out your heart to him and watch him work!