The Perfect Life

~~~ Hebrews 5:1-10 ~~~ Psalm 110 ~~~ Mark 2:18-22 ~~~

Son though he was, he learned obedience 

from what he suffered;

and when he was made perfect,

he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

There is one phrase above that puzzles me...

... when he (Jesus) was made perfect...

Wasn't Jesus perfect from the beginning of time?

Certainly he was the Word made flesh...

He came down from heaven to live among us, 

to be with us, to be one of us.

Just what needed to be perfected in the person of Jesus?

In order for Jesus to be fully human he had to experience 

all of the wonder and the ugliness of what it means to be human.

Jesus had to know what it meant to be hungry, to be rejected, 

to be misunderstood, to be accused, to be homeless, 

to be loved, to be cherished, to be mocked, to be betrayed, 

to be tortured and finally to be crucified.

Jesus was made perfect through all of these various aspects

 of being human because he overcame all of them.

 He was the one who was able to come out unscathed.

He was the one who would be victorious,

 just to save us.

He was the one who was made perfect 

through his sufferings;

suffered for you and for me.

Jesus showed us the way.

Jesus showed us that it is possible 

to endure for something greater.

Jesus showed us that there is

 no way to escape suffering.

Jesus showed us that we must carry our cross

 to be made perfect with him...

to reach our eternal reward of salvation.

We too are made complete through our suffering.

Our sufferings may not be as 

monumental as being nailed to a cross,

but nevertheless they are our sufferings.

How are you facing the struggles in your life today?

Jesus gives us sufficient grace to emerge from our sufferings

 just as he came out victorious.

Someday we too will share in the glory

 of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Perhaps there is some truth to the saying

no pain no gain.

Jesus does not want us to suffer,

 but he knows first hand that suffering is part 

of what it means to be human.

Jesus is the perfect vision of hope.

Without his suffering we might be asking

 a very different question today...

we might be asking if he really was God.

We may long for the perfect life, 

but the truth is not even Jesus had the 'perfect life'

he drew upon his relationship with the Father to keep going.

Our 'perfect life''

is achieved through our life long relationship with God.

Blessings bring us through our sufferings.
Peace