Left Handed Jesus

I was recently reading about Jesus (hmm, who woulda known it) and I was looking into the subject of Jesus’ humanity and whether He was really fully human or whether he could really be tempted and if He really can sympathize with us and our weakness.

First off, let me say that I believe the Bible and when it says He was tempted in every way (Hebrews 4:15) then I believe it. When it says that Jesus was made like us (John 1:14) I believe it. Now just because I believe in something does not make it any easier to understand. I believe in the Trinity, but does that mean I understand it, NO. If I think too deeply about the Trinity I am half convinced my brain is going to fly out the back of my head. Anyway, I know that God was fully man and fully God and that He was tempted in every way that I am, but without sin.

So, I was thinking about this truth and I thought of this possibly helpful metaphor. If it does not help you can throw it out the window.

My sophomore year of college I was in an education class, I think it was Child Development. One day I came to class and the teacher had all of these different activities that helped us understand learning disabilities. She had us tie shoes with mittens on, read with bad glasses on, and write with our non dominant hand. Mine was the left. I remember getting genuinely, extremely, frustrated with the fact that I could not write well with my left hand. I was weak.

Now Jesus became a man, like us, and can sympathize with our weakness. First, Jesus was God immaterial, He didn’t have a body like you or me until the incarnation and now He does. When Jesus became a man it was like He started writing left handed with His whole life. He took on flesh and forced Himself to use it His whole life so that He can sympathize with us. I am sure life got tough and frustrating, but He never sinned because He is awesome. I felt like cussing under my breath after writing left hand for five minutes, Jesus lived His entire life left handed and never sinned.

It is such an incredible truth that Jesus (God) would humble Himself to live a left handed life in its entirety so that He could die the death we should have died and resurrect and be the sympathetic priest that stands between us and the Father on our behalf. He is the great prophet, teaching us truth and being truth, He is the sympathetic priest, understanding our trials and helping those who are being tempted, He is the King sitting at the right hand of God who will come back in Glory and set all how it should be, unhindered and swinging a sword and in His right hand: a rod of iron.

I would encourage you, like the writer of Hebrews, to draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, not because we are worthy, but because Jesus, who made Himself like us,  paid the penalty with His own blood and we can now be seen through His righteousness and not our sin.

Worship Jesus who could have let us choose our way to Hell but instead lived left handed so we can enjoy eternity with Him.

 

For the Curious, I was listening to Our Endless Numbered Days by Iron and Wine.

For the Extra Curious, check out the book Vintage Jesus. It is a book about Jesus by Mark Driscoll