We often sing songs that have the theme, “I’m but a stranger here, but heaven is my home.” Yet, we often forget how Jesus left His home in heaven and was a stranger here for us. It’s hard to understand exactly what Jesus thought and felt when he walked the earth. Before he came to earth as a human, he never faced hunger. He never experienced fatigue. He had never been tempted to sin. His life was never in danger.
No one on earth understood him. No one knew how hard his mission was to carry out. He came as the friend of sinners, but he was a stranger to all of them. Certainly, at times while on this earth he must have thought, “I’m but a stranger here, heaven is my home.”
But this had to be. Jesus demonstrated what it was like to live in a place not his own. Just like we do – we live on planet Earth, but our citizenship is in heaven. So we needed someone who could relate to our situation here. Someone who felt hunger. Someone who at times had no place to lay his head. Someone who was wrongfully accused and threatened with death. Someone who felt sorrow and pain. Someone who was tempted by sin.
Hebrews 4:15 tells us, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.”
Jesus became a stranger here and faced all of those difficulties so that his Father could be our Father. Leaving his throne in heaven and coming here cost him his earthly life. But it provided for all of us eternal life.
So, today, we can sing a song like “I’m but a stranger here…” just like our savior was. He understands our situation. He knows the pain we face. He can relate to our loneliness. He knows what we are going through and has compassion for us. He is the perfect one to lead us through this life. And because Jesus’ Father is now also our Father, we will not be a stranger in the heavenly realms. We will be at home. And I look forward to that day!
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