March to the Cross

Jesus: Dependent King

Focus: Jesus empties Himself of His divine nature in order to experience humanity which causes Him to completely depend on His Father’s voice.

Today’s verses:

Philippians 2:5-7 …Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant….

Hebrews 2:17 Therefore He had to be made like his brothers in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to aid of those who are tempted.

Hebrews 5:8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.

Luke 2:52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man.

Today we are focusing on Jesus as the God-Man. He is both...fully God, yet willing to become fully Man. In the days to come as we march to the cross together with Jesus, we will see his "God-ness" by the miracles he performs; but let us also remember his daily human-ness. To think, he chose to be an infant, a toddler, a child, a teenager and then a young maturing adult. He really could have skipped all that! But he didn't. Jesus wanted to experience everything we do so he could sympathize with us in both our joy and in our suffering. He also became like us so that he could teach us how to live dependently on his Father's voice through the Spirit. He did not have to walk the dusty earth and lean in dependently on His Father for every need and every command, but he wanted to...so that we could learn from him and follow his example. The sacrificial lengths of his pursuing love overwhelms me.

How does the fact that Jesus chose to learn about our struggles of daily life and also experience our human emotions bring you comfort?

For further reading: Isaiah 11:1-2; John 14:10

Dear Lord Jesus,

I will be forever awed by your extreme love for the people you created. To think of all that you gave up that was perfect and pleasant for the sake of us here on earth! You are the ultimate "undercover Boss"! Thank you, King of Creation, for becoming like us. Thank you for every emotion you experienced and every pain you suffered as you walked the earth. O Lord, thank you for being our brother. Amen.