Admiration and Gratitude Without Understanding

This past Monday was Memorial Day.  In recent years, Memorial Day has sort of become a day when we remember all of our loved ones who have passed away.  And that’s okay, I guess.  We should remember them.  But we should also remember that the original purpose of Memorial Day is to remember all those who died in service to our country.

I think it’s really hard for someone like me, who has never served in the military, to fully understand what it’s like to serve at all.  It’s probably impossible for me to understand what it’s like to be in combat, risking your life for the country.  I can admire the courage that it takes, and I can be grateful to all who’ve done it, but that’s probably about as close as I can come.

And of course, most of the people who’ve been in combat really don’t like to talk about it.  Part of that might just be that they don’t want to relive the experience, of course.  But I think they also feel that there’d be no point to talking about it.  I think they, too, realize that someone who’s not been there could never understand it, so there’s really no point in trying to explain what it’s like.

As I thought about that, I started thinking about what the gospels tell us about Jesus.  They tell us some of the things he did.  They tell us some of the things he said.  But they never tell us what he thought or how he felt.  They never tell us what it was like for Jesus to be Jesus, to be the divine Son of God.  We’re never told how Jesus felt when he worked a miracle.  We’re never told what Jesus thought when he was riding into Jerusalem to the cheers of the crowd.  We’re never told how Jesus felt when Judas betrayed him.

Maybe Jesus just didn’t want to talk about it.  But maybe there’d be no point in telling us those things.  Maybe it’s just not possible for you and me, as human beings, to understand what it’s like to be the divine Son of God.  Maybe we cannot understand what it’s like to work miracles.  Maybe we cannot understand what it’s like to have the Pharisees constantly trying to trick or trap you.  Maybe we could never understand it, and so there’d really have been on point in Jesus trying to explain what it was like.

We cannot understand it, but we can admire it.  We can admire the courage and the faith it took for Jesus to do what he did.  And we can be grateful that Jesus sacrificed his life on earth so that our sins could be forgiven and we could have eternal life.

Memorial Day is past now, of course.  But if you did not already, be sure to be grateful for those who’ve given their lives in service to this country.  And be grateful to Jesus Christ, who gave up his life on earth for our salvation.