Daily Devotional

When Jesus arrived at the Jordan River, He had a choice. He could have stood with John up on the bank, calling sinners to repentance. That would have made sense. After all, He was the sinless Son of God. He had every right to stand apart, to keep His distance from the shame and guilt being poured out in that river.

But that is not what He did. Jesus went down into the water with the sinners. He stood among them, not above them. He chose identification over separation, solidarity over distance.

In the traditional Mediterranean culture of Jesus’ day, society was built on honor and shame. Jesus had all the honor. He was the sinless One, the Lamb of God without blemish. But He looked at us in our shame, our guilt, our failure, and He stepped into the water to stand with us. He relinquished His rightful honor to embrace our shame.

John Newton captured this beautifully when he wrote that Jesus has “experiential sympathy” with us. He knows our sorrows not merely because He knows all things, but because He has been in our situation. He did not observe sinners from heaven or even from the riverbank. He stepped into their condition to know firsthand their experience.

When you pray today, remember: you are speaking to One who has been where you are. He understands.