Sharing Flesh and Blood

Texts: Hebrews 2:5 - 18 and Ain't I a Woman? By Sojourner Truth (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/sojtruth-woman.html)

In the Hebrew text we are told that Jesus understands us and can be compassionate to us because he shared in our flesh and blood ... and because he shared in our suffering. His ability to be merciful and faithful as our High Priest is due to his "becoming like us in every respect."

There is something about us humans. We need to be able to relate. We need to be able to see and feel some kind of kinship.

It's no wonder to me that as Christianity spread that the pictures of Jesus changed. Jesus was likely a dark skinned man. Maybe he had nappy hair that was black. His eyes were possibly a deep rich brown like the fertile earth. As his message went from nation to nation his image changed. We are used to looking at people who look like us. It's a superficial thing.

The image of Jesus changed to look like the people who had adopted his teachings. There's really nothing wrong with that ... until one nation becomes dominant and insists that the other nations are wrong and that their depiction of the Messiah is evil. And there's nothing wrong with it unless it is a conquered nation who is being stripped of their beliefs by force and given a whole new set of beliefs from a Messiah with whom they can't relate.

The Hebrew text doesn't give us this superficial relationship with Jesus. We are offered something much more substantial. We are told that Jesus shared in being made of flesh and blood like we are made and that Jesus shared in experiencing suffering just like us. This is the Messiah that we follow ... that we trust with our own flesh and blood ... that we trust with our own suffering. This is the Messiah with whom we share the bread and wine of communion because he shared flesh and blood with us.

Whenever I think about suffering I think of Buddhism. The First Noble Truth is often translated as Life is Suffering. The word suffering is an incomplete translation though. The word that is translated as suffering is Dukkha. Dukkha, like many ancient words, has no equal in many languages, English included. Instead of translating the word, some say that it is more important to look at the three types of Dukkha: Suffering or pain; Impermanence or change; and Conditioned states.

I thought I would take this approach with the Greek word translated as suffering. There are two words that I found being used in our text.

One of the words has three spellings. They are, Pascho (pas-kho), patho, and pentho. These words mean, to experience a sensation or impression (usually painful): - feel, passion, suffer, vex.

The second word is pathema (path'-ay-mah. This means something undergone, an emotion or influence; such as affection, affliction, motion, suffering.

These words have a relationship with the word pathos or passion. I think it's good to look at the fullness of these ideas. We are not just talking about a Messiah who felt the whip of the Romans and the betrayal of the Pharisees. Our Messiah knows all our passions. Our Messiah was made of flesh and blood, just like we are. When his skin was scratched it hurt. When his skin was caressed it felt good. Jesus experienced the whole of the human condition.

If all we focus on is Jesus knowing our pain, then we have a Saviour who only understands part of our life. That's not the kind of Saviour I want!

I want a Saviour who understands me. I want a Messiah who I can laugh and cry with. I don't want to laugh by myself. I don't want to enjoy the spring daffodils all alone. The joy of the resurrection was that Jesus returned ... body and all! For this season of Lent we reflect on the wilderness and the betrayal, but the reason we can get through this is because of our confidence in the resurrection! And because we have a Messiah who can relate to us in our flesh and blood we can relate to our Messiah. We can look at the terrible tragedy of his suffering while we are suffering but hopefully we won't stop there. Hopefully we will say, "yes, but ... there is the resurrection." I can endure this suffering. I can live in this suffering. I can conquer this suffering. Hope is powerful

We fill this need of ours through many re-creations of the relatable Messiah. I'm not being flippant. I think re-creations help us get through our every day stuff. Sometimes maybe Jesus seems a little too far off or too powerful. Not quite as relatable as we would like. He is too God-ish. So we create superheroes. Wonder Woman. Superman. Spiderman.

We create fictional characters who walk around just like us. They have boring jobs and relationship troubles. They go to parties. They try to figure out how to fit in. But when the signal is spotted or when a cry for help is heard, they transform into a super-person. They transform into a saviour. Sometimes they suffer at the hands of evil but they always bounce back. These stories give us hope.

As much as these stories seem like mimics of our understanding of Jesus for us, I think they are also show, in some way, how we wish to be. Maybe it's just me, but when I hear the story of Spiderman or the Incredible Hulk, I imagine myself hearing the cry of distress and being transformed into a powerful and almost invincible person who saves the day.

Messiah complex? Maybe.

But that is the desire that is birthed in me when I hear the story of Jesus. I believe that we have been given the gift of a relatable Messiah not just to help us get through life but also to help us become who we need to be in this life. Jesus stands as an example to us of how to live. He is a merciful and faithful high priest to us but he is also our teacher and mentor. We are to follow him to the cross with the promise of experiencing the resurrection.

As Christians, I believe that the superheroes in comic strips and on movie screens are examples of what we need and who we want to be.

We are not called to be above anyone. We are not called to be without defect or awkwardness. We are called to be relatable and yet to hear the cry of distress and answer it in the power with which we have been gifted. And I believe we have all been given some power to answer the cries of distress.

Sojourner Truth asks, "Ain't I a woman?" She extends her arms to show her physical strength and yet asks again, "Ain't I a woman?" I hear echoes of Hebrews 2 in this. Am I not made of flesh and blood? Am I not one of you? Can you not relate to me? I can relate to you. I can see your skin and I know that blood is pumping through your veins. Don't be afraid of my power. Appreciate it for what it is and appreciate me for who I am.

There is comfort and challenge in Jesus being made in our image. We not only have a relatable high priest, saviour messiah ... but we also have a teacher and mentor who calls us to be the same for others.

"14 Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death."

We share this flesh and blood with so many. We come across people who are held captive by the fear of death. Sometimes it's physical death but more often I think there are other deaths or ends that people fear. Everyone needs someone to relate to. Can we follow in the footsteps of our Jesus who, because he was flesh and blood he could be merciful and faithful? And because he was Divine he could triumph over the fear of death.

Can Jesus' ability to relate to us transform us to be able to relate to others? Can we be like Sojourner Truth – proclaiming ourselves to be humans and relatable while challenging the power that holds the fear of death?

Can we take the ways we have been tested through suffering and become merciful and faithful priests of our Divine Beloved?

As lent continues and you meditate on the coming betrayal and then the resurrection of our Jesus, consider how he can relate to you and then how you can relate to others. Consider your super-powers ... your divine powers ... the gifts that you have that you know about and those that are not yet to the surface. Remember that your mild-mannered life is what makes you relatable to so many. Don't scorn your boring days or your awkward moments. Know that your pain and your joy allows you to share in the humanity of others.

And with all this, remember that, as verse 18 says, "Because Jesus himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested."

Because you yourself have been tested by what you suffer, you are able to help those who are being tested. And as you are doing so, Jesus, is helping you.Sharing Flesh and Blood
Texts: Hebrews 2:5 - 18 and Ain't I a Woman? By Sojourner Truth (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/sojtruth-woman.html)

In the Hebrew text we are told that Jesus understands us and can be compassionate to us because he shared in our flesh and blood ... and because he shared in our suffering. His ability to be merciful and faithful as our High Priest is due to his "becoming like us in every respect."

There is something about us humans. We need to be able to relate. We need to be able to see and feel some kind of kinship.

It's no wonder to me that as Christianity spread that the pictures of Jesus changed. Jesus was likely a dark skinned man. Maybe he had nappy hair that was black. His eyes were possibly a deep rich brown like the fertile earth. As his message went from nation to nation his image changed. We are used to looking at people who look like us. It's a superficial thing.

The image of Jesus changed to look like the people who had adopted his teachings. There's really nothing wrong with that ... until one nation becomes dominant and insists that the other nations are wrong and that their depiction of the Messiah is evil. And there's nothing wrong with it unless it is a conquered nation who is being stripped of their beliefs by force and given a whole new set of beliefs from a Messiah with whom they can't relate.

The Hebrew text doesn't give us this superficial relationship with Jesus. We are offered something much more substantial. We are told that Jesus shared in being made of flesh and blood like we are made and that Jesus shared in experiencing suffering just like us. This is the Messiah that we follow ... that we trust with our own flesh and blood ... that we trust with our own suffering. This is the Messiah with whom we share the bread and wine of communion because he shared flesh and blood with us.

Whenever I think about suffering I think of Buddhism. The First Noble Truth is often translated as Life is Suffering. The word suffering is an incomplete translation though. The word that is translated as suffering is Dukkha. Dukkha, like many ancient words, has no equal in many languages, English included. Instead of translating the word, some say that it is more important to look at the three types of Dukkha: Suffering or pain; Impermanence or change; and Conditioned states.

I thought I would take this approach with the Greek word translated as suffering. There are two words that I found being used in our text.

One of the words has three spellings. They are, Pascho (pas-kho), patho, and pentho. These words mean, to experience a sensation or impression (usually painful): - feel, passion, suffer, vex.

The second word is pathema (path'-ay-mah. This means something undergone, an emotion or influence; such as affection, affliction, motion, suffering.

These words have a relationship with the word pathos or passion. I think it's good to look at the fullness of these ideas. We are not just talking about a Messiah who felt the whip of the Romans and the betrayal of the Pharisees. Our Messiah knows all our passions. Our Messiah was made of flesh and blood, just like we are. When his skin was scratched it hurt. When his skin was caressed it felt good. Jesus experienced the whole of the human condition.

If all we focus on is Jesus knowing our pain, then we have a Saviour who only understands part of our life. That's not the kind of Saviour I want!

I want a Saviour who understands me. I want a Messiah who I can laugh and cry with. I don't want to laugh by myself. I don't want to enjoy the spring daffodils all alone. The joy of the resurrection was that Jesus returned ... body and all! For this season of Lent we reflect on the wilderness and the betrayal, but the reason we can get through this is because of our confidence in the resurrection! And because we have a Messiah who can relate to us in our flesh and blood we can relate to our Messiah. We can look at the terrible tragedy of his suffering while we are suffering but hopefully we won't stop there. Hopefully we will say, "yes, but ... there is the resurrection." I can endure this suffering. I can live in this suffering. I can conquer this suffering. Hope is powerful

We fill this need of ours through many re-creations of the relatable Messiah. I'm not being flippant. I think re-creations help us get through our every day stuff. Sometimes maybe Jesus seems a little too far off or too powerful. Not quite as relatable as we would like. He is too God-ish. So we create superheroes. Wonder Woman. Superman. Spiderman.

We create fictional characters who walk around just like us. They have boring jobs and relationship troubles. They go to parties. They try to figure out how to fit in. But when the signal is spotted or when a cry for help is heard, they transform into a super-person. They transform into a saviour. Sometimes they suffer at the hands of evil but they always bounce back. These stories give us hope.

As much as these stories seem like mimics of our understanding of Jesus for us, I think they are also show, in some way, how we wish to be. Maybe it's just me, but when I hear the story of Spiderman or the Incredible Hulk, I imagine myself hearing the cry of distress and being transformed into a powerful and almost invincible person who saves the day.

Messiah complex? Maybe.

But that is the desire that is birthed in me when I hear the story of Jesus. I believe that we have been given the gift of a relatable Messiah not just to help us get through life but also to help us become who we need to be in this life. Jesus stands as an example to us of how to live. He is a merciful and faithful high priest to us but he is also our teacher and mentor. We are to follow him to the cross with the promise of experiencing the resurrection.

As Christians, I believe that the superheroes in comic strips and on movie screens are examples of what we need and who we want to be.

We are not called to be above anyone. We are not called to be without defect or awkwardness. We are called to be relatable and yet to hear the cry of distress and answer it in the power with which we have been gifted. And I believe we have all been given some power to answer the cries of distress.

Sojourner Truth asks, "Ain't I a woman?" She extends her arms to show her physical strength and yet asks again, "Ain't I a woman?" I hear echoes of Hebrews 2 in this. Am I not made of flesh and blood? Am I not one of you? Can you not relate to me? I can relate to you. I can see your skin and I know that blood is pumping through your veins. Don't be afraid of my power. Appreciate it for what it is and appreciate me for who I am.

There is comfort and challenge in Jesus being made in our image. We not only have a relatable high priest, saviour messiah ... but we also have a teacher and mentor who calls us to be the same for others.

"14 Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death."

We share this flesh and blood with so many. We come across people who are held captive by the fear of death. Sometimes it's physical death but more often I think there are other deaths or ends that people fear. Everyone needs someone to relate to. Can we follow in the footsteps of our Jesus who, because he was flesh and blood he could be merciful and faithful? And because he was Divine he could triumph over the fear of death.

Can Jesus' ability to relate to us transform us to be able to relate to others? Can we be like Sojourner Truth – proclaiming ourselves to be humans and relatable while challenging the power that holds the fear of death?

Can we take the ways we have been tested through suffering and become merciful and faithful priests of our Divine Beloved?

As lent continues and you meditate on the coming betrayal and then the resurrection of our Jesus, consider how he can relate to you and then how you can relate to others. Consider your super-powers ... your divine powers ... the gifts that you have that you know about and those that are not yet to the surface. Remember that your mild-mannered life is what makes you relatable to so many. Don't scorn your boring days or your awkward moments. Know that your pain and your joy allows you to share in the humanity of others.

And with all this, remember that, as verse 18 says, "Because Jesus himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested."

Because you yourself have been tested by what you suffer, you are able to help those who are being tested. And as you are doing so, Jesus, is helping you.