Being Sick

I hate being sick. Whether it is the sore throat, the body ache, or the upset stomach, being sick is never fun. This is the time of year that sickness always seems to arrive also. As we get busy for the holidays. As we have plans made and people to meet. As we get last minute Christmas shopping and decorations done. Sickness always seems to hit the hardest around the holiday season. And unfortunately at the moment, I am sick with strep throat.

As I lay here on the couch, trying to not think about being sick, I am reminded that Christmas is the time of year, we celebrate the birth of God in the flesh. Christmas is the time of year, God's people reflect upon the arrival of baby Jesus. Christmas is the time of year that God's people remember the truth that a perfect holy God entered a sin filled world to redeem a people for Himself. Jesus birth means that God in the flesh entered a world full of sin and the effects of sin. And sickness is a result of sin in the world. I am sick right now, crashed on the couch, becasue sin has effected this world to fallenness.

That means Christmas is a time of year, we must think about the fact that God in the flesh, entered a world full of sin and felt the effects of sin. No, Jesus never sinned (even 1 time) while He was on the earth. But baby Jesus, teenage Jesus, and adult Jesus, all felt the effects of the sin filled world. That means Jesus would have gotten sick. That means Jesus would have had friends, as a child or as adults, die becasue of sickness. That means, at some point, Jesus was stuck in his bed with a sore throat, a body ache, or an upset stomach.

The Bible tells us that Jesus is our great high Priest. He intercedes to the Father for us becasue He can fully relate to us as humans. One of the ways Jesus can fully relate to us as humans, is Jesus got sick in His physical body. Jesus knows what it is like to have the flu. Jesus knows what it feels like to throw-up. Jesus understands the feeling of a body ache. Yet, Jesus in being sick in the body, never failed to bring His Father glory.

This gives us two important points. First, Jesus can fully relate to us, in knowing the feelings of being sick. Jesus as our high Priest and King knows the feeling of sickness. Jesus can relate and feel our pain when we pray to Him. Jesus will wipe away the tear of a sore throat or body hurt becasue He can relate. Jesus is the perfect man to interceded for us to the Father becasue He knows what it is like to be sick.

Second, this truth of Jesus being sick, means that we can and must still glorify God in our illness. Yes, we are sick and tired. Yes, we might lay in bed most of the day or sleep. Yes, we lack energy and feel anxious or depressed. But this is still the perfect time to bring God glory. Jesus was able to always glorify His Father, even when He was sick and in bed. That means we too can and must bring God glory, even when we are in bed and do not feel well.

So how are you comforted knowing Jesus got sick and how are you bringing God glory when you are down for the count with the stomach bug?