Tried, Tested, and True: Hebrews 2:14-18 - Presentation of Our Lord

¹⁴Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, [Jesus] himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. ¹⁶For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. ¹⁷Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. ¹⁸Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.

Over the river and through the woods . . . by JLS Photography - Alaska on Flickr. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

There are some things I miss from my childhood: watching cartoons, playing with Legos, and a life of no pressure.

Perhaps, I’m mistaken about the last one. Kids these days face obscene amounts of pressure, to be the best and brightest at school, sports, music, extracurricular activities. But nowhere is the pressure greater than on tests. Particularly, standardized tests…

They were called PSSAs when I was a student; now they’re called Keystone Exams.

And then you have the SATs and the ACTs if you’re pursuing higher education.

Tests are vital tools in education. Ideally, these tests ensure that students have all the necessary knowledge and skills to be able to function as a productive member of society.

But for a youth with an exam in front of them, your score indicates whether or not you’re a good student; whether or not you’ve got the right stuff to be successful; whether or not you’re hopes and dreams will ultimately be fulfilled.

And it isn’t just students who agonize over these tests. Teachers and school administrators feel the burn even more—because student test results may very well determine whether they will keep their jobs. Talk about pressure…

For that reason, it’s difficult for me to mentally separate academic testing from the testing described in our second reading from Hebrews.

“Because [Jesus] himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.”

It makes you wonder how he would’ve performed if he had been given standardized tests—or if he found learning to be a challenge—as it is for most people. Jesus was the sinless Son of God—but that didn’t make him invulnerable to mistakes and failure.

What we do know is that Jesus was tested in a way that doesn’t involve bubble sheets and number two pencils. That would be the forty days Jesus spent alone in the desert, with no food, where he was tempted by the devil. More importantly, Jesus was tested when he carried and when he suffered on the cross. In every test, Jesus could’ve rescued himself and never suffered a thing. Except that he didn’t do that. He endured his testing—because the Spirit of God guided and defended him.

And this is the first major difference between the world’s tests versus your testing as a Christian. If you have help when you’re taking the Keystones or the SAT, you’re a cheater! But God promises that when you are tested (even in school), you will have help. Jesus will be your helper and defender.

Then there’s the whole question of why you are tested. Worldly tests are all about evaluation and measurement. God doesn’t test you for those reasons. As a child of God, you do not have to prove yourself worthy of God’s love by how you perform under pressure. You’re made in God’s image—so you don’t need to prove anything.

The old cliché “God doesn’t give you more than you can handle” is nonsense and should never be spoken. There are millions of things that may happen to you that will be more than you can handle. But you will never face such “test” without God’s help.

And we should be careful in holding God responsible for every test you face. It’s not for you or me to say when or how God tests people. God doesn’t break your bones, give you cancer, or make you poor. Life tests people.

We say, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Yet, it’s dangerous to call it “good” when something awful happens to test your faith. Just because God delivered Jesus from 40 days of hunger does NOT mean that we should call hunger “good.” Hunger is never good. Trials are bad—God is good.

Jesus was tested more than any of us will ever be—and Jesus didn’t choose the easy way out of any of them. Jesus was subject to every possible human vulnerability. Jesus is the champion of all people who are being tested in any way, for any reason. No matter what the test, even when there’s no clear reason why you’re going through it, God works within your testing to show you God’s faithfulness. God’s faithfulness will be the test result.

In the light of this promise, I believe there is a different sort of test for us: how do we, as people of hope, respond to our neighbors’ need? What do we do, in response to the goodness of God, for those we know who are being tested by illness, grief, poverty, and hardship? What do we do for those who don’t even know God, and for whom God’s faithfulness is a mystery?

This is God’s test for the 21^st century Church in America.

The Church gives an unbelieving world a great big reason NOT to believe in God if we stay inside our buildings, fussing over this and that, sitting in judgment of people who don’t come. It’s tragic to consider that so many congregations are wrapped up in ensuring the survival of their own ecclesial enclaves while the world suffers. Hope is the most powerful unifying force there is—but fear turns us inward and drives us apart. Selfish ambition fuels conflict and competition. We’re failing our test—and God is disciplining us.

But what gives me hope is that God’s faithfulness cannot be thwarted by human unfaithfulness. God is the strength of those who are being tested—and we see God’s strength most clearly by being present to each other, caring for one another as we are able. We can’t cure diseases and make all the world’s problems go away. But trials and temptations are always more bearable when we bear them together. Jesus is the champion of all people who are being tested in any way, for any reason. God’s faithfulness is the strength that drives us and the goal we pursue.

Jesus has been tried—and he will be true.