A bloody mess.
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Moments before getting my shirt and tie on for church the morning of August 14, my phone started to vibrate on the bedside table.
It was my Dad, “I think we are going to have to take Elisabeth to the hospital, she’s cut her hand.”
As I quickly threw on a T-shirt and headed the half mile to the church, I thought, “how bad could it be?”
I found them in the kitchen and after surveying the wound and the blood, I agreed with my father’s earlier conclusion and off we went to the hospital.
Whilst Grandad was getting things ready for church, Elisabeth had managed to find a craft blade, which she was using to carve a piece of wood. The blade slipped and in seconds blood was pouring over everything as a scared older brother and cousin went searching for help.
After a couple of hours at the Bristol Children’s hospital we left with some glue and a cleaned wound, not exactly how I planned to spend my Sunday morning.
But I think there are lessons we can learn from life as we reflect on our personal experiences.
So why do I need Jesus?… What would your answer be?
For much of my life, I feel like I’ve been taught that I am a sinner and fall short of Gods glory1, that Christ came to take the beating and punishment meant for me so that I could escape the chains of hell, and as the song says, “my chains are gone I’ve been set free.”2 And whilst this might be so, I’ve wondered if this view or Jesus is both myopic and inaccurate.
The natural consequence of sin, or even just ignorance is suffering. When we act contrary to the nature of God we experience mental, spiritual, emotional or physical injuries. We become wounded.
And like my daughter’s hand, some of our injuries and wounds can be very messy and it’s in this wounded and messy state that most of us approach Jesus. Yes it was our ‘sin’ that created the problem, but we don’t need chains to be broken, what we need and want is a physician3, someone who can stop the pain, heal the wound and tell us we will be okay.
Christ didn’t come to condemn people, but rather he came to save us4. I like so many others have knowingly and unwittingly gone contrary to Gods laws, and it’s left me feeling wounded and beaten like the man on the road to Jericho at times.
But the Good Samaritan always comes.
That parable was a story about Jesus’ love, compassion, and his willingness and ability to heal. This is why I need and seek for Jesus. He is the great physician who has helped to heal what I have foolishly broken.
Romans 3:23
Chris Tomlin
Mark 2:17
John 3:17