He Became One of Us

Admin Mon 17 Jul 2017, 1:33 pm

He Became One of Us .

Joseph Damien was a nineteenth-century missionary

who ministered to people with leprosy on the island of

Molokai, Hawaii.

Those suffering grew to love him and revered the

sacrificial

life he lived out before them. One morning before

Damien

was to lead daily worship, he was pouring some hot

water

into a cup when the water swirled out and fell onto his

bare foot. It took him a moment to realize that he had

not

felt any sensation. Gripped by the sudden fear of what

this could mean, he poured more hot water on the same

spot. Again, there was no feeling whatsoever. Damien

immediately knew what had happened. As he walked to

deliver his sermon, no one at first noticed the

difference

in his opening line. He normally began every sermon

with,

"My fellow believers." But this morning he began with:

"My fellow lepers."1

Is this not similar to what Jesus did for us. He became

one

of us, so he could identify with us, and give his life

as a

sacrifice for us. "He [Jesus] is despised and rejected

by

men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And

we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was

despised,

and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our

griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him

stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was

wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for

our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon

Him, and by His stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:3-5,

NKJV).

1. Ravi Zacharias (Cited on KneEmail

www.oakhillcoc.org)