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Jesus, the Son of GOD, came to earth and suffered for us. Imagine that. Take a minute to think about it.

Jesus felt everything we, as humans feel. Anticipating His death for us, he cried in the pain of anticipation. He offered up prayers as He got ready for this awful sacrifice.

They were the prayers of a priest.   Jesus is now the most High Priest. Because He is GOD’s Son, God answered His prayers and honored His sacrifice for us. In GOD’s world, we are all now a nation of priests. We intercede, with Jesus, on behalf of all who are in need of Him.

Now get this, he was God’s very own Son. He didn’t have to do any of this for us. He came to earth and learned trusting-obedience by what he suffered. He didn’t have to suffer.

We sometimes wonder, why do we have to suffer? Well, we join in the ministry of Jesus by sharing in suffering,  just as Jesus did. By suffering, Jesus arrived at the full stature of his maturity. Imagine the Son of God having to mature. He did as a man on earth. In that maturity and perfection, Jesus became our priest. In his death and resurrection,  he became the source of eternal salvation to all us who obey him.

While he lived on earth, anticipating death, Jesus cried out in pain and wept in sorrow as he offered up priestly prayers to God.

(Hebrews 5:7 The Message)