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Devotional

Jesus Knows Our Sacrifice

by JODIE PINE SACRIFICE Lack of “home” Isolation & loneliness Feeling known & understood
Jesus Knows Our Sacrifice
“And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus."
Mark 9:4

What tops your list when you consider the sacrifices of living overseas? I'll share with you a few of mine...


A longing to be with those I know and who know me.


A desire for belonging and familiar connection.


An ache for my true home.


I wonder how Jesus would have identified with these sacrifices.


I imagine there must have been times when Jesus felt homesick for heaven
And ached to be with His Father
At rest in His true home
The way He had before He walked our dusty streets
And faced disappointing those who hoped for something different from Him
And experienced disappointment by the lack of faith in His followers
All those times when He was misunderstood and accused of being a blasphemer
Leading up to His final walk to Calvary
Where He paid the ultimate sacrifice for us.

But before the cross, God led Him, along with three of His closest friends, up a mountaintop and pulled aside the curtain separating heaven and earth. Moses and Elijah appeared and talked with Jesus, whose appearance had become dazzingly transfigured. And God's voice split the heavens, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to Him!”


Ken Gire writes in Moments With the Savior, “How Jesus must have longed to step off that mountain and go with these kindred spirits back to heaven, to return home to his Father and to the honor that was rightfully his. He could have been swept from earth as Elijah had been by a chariot of fire. He could have been delivered as Moses had by a miraculous exodus.


But no chariot comes to whisk him away from his circumstances. No miracles come to provide a way out of his suffering.


How ironic, the three of them standing there together. He who is the fulfillment of the Law and Prophets stands between the greatest lawgiver and the greatest prophet, to be filled by them. Encouraged by them. Strengthened by them.”


How compassionate of God to give Jesus this comforting companionship before He descended the mountain and returned to the “real world” where His disciples would argue over who was the greatest. And those same three who witnessed His transfiguration would fall asleep on the night when He sweated blood in agony, begging His Father to take the cup from Him. Yet, He was able to proclaim, not His will but God’s be done.


And so with us. We long to live a life of surrendered obedience, following Him wherever He may lead, with or without fellow travelers.


Because Jesus’ heart ached in much the same way that our hearts ache with sacrifice and homesickness, He offers us His comforting companionship that we can find in no one else.


Closing Prayer
Jesus, thank you for the many sacrifices you made, in addition to your ultimate sacrifice. As you identify with our homesickness and times when we are misunderstood, so may we enter into your times of being abandoned and alone. May we grow in understanding you better because of the sacrifices we experience in living overseas. Amen.
Resources
Book: Moments With the Savior: A Devotional Life of Christ by Ken Gire This is my all-time favorite devotional with so many helpful insights into the life of Jesus.
Article: To Be Understood by Jodie Pine A blog post about experiencing Jesus as Immanuel, while feeling misunderstood, having a migraine in the village.
Song: You Are My Home by Brain Doerkson This song reminds me that my true home is with God, “the place I eternally belong.”
Article: Why I Will Not Say I Never Made a Sacrifice by Rachel Pieh Jones This is a reflection on David Livingstone's statement that he never made a sacrifice in his ministry overseas.
Question for Reflection

How have you experienced Jesus meeting you when you have felt alone or misunderstood overseas?

Comments
Jodie Pine
January 24, 2022

One day, when we were living in the village, I was in bed all day with a migraine. Lots of busy preparation was going on in our host family’s home, preparing for a memorial festival the next day. I felt misunderstood by others in my pain, hearing the condemnation of being lazy. But the word that God gave me to focus on was “Immanuel.” He is with me. It’s ok if I’m not understood because being understood by Jesus can be enough.