Even Jesus Had Bad Days...

My wife said it, so don't look at me... I would never say such a sacreligious thing! Or is it....?


When I saw the post from my youngest daughter, quoting my amazing wife, I immediately pictured the conversation they probably had when the sentence entered into existence: my wife was driving my daughter crazy and Rebecca was pushing back, and Kat was giving a reason why she was acting irritated. But, my wife enlightened me... I was totally wrong about the scenario. Not even close.

This is how it went: I was not home at the time, and the two of them were laying in bed talking about life and stuff - Before I move on, you gotta admit.. that's just awesome! My wife and my 16 year old daughter, just talking about life... real life. Not a lecture from a parent, or a tirade from a teenager. No, a deep, passionate digging in of life, love, and just stuff. I hear a lot of people complain about teenagers, but I'm here to tell you, they are not all bad. I've seen some remarkable, godly young men and women at my church, and most fortunately, in my home.

Okay, back to the conversation. Rebecca was explaining her frustrations to my wife about relationships, and friends, and school, and work... pretty much the things we all struggle with day to day. My wife, with poignant precision, states what I now have realized to be a deep truth, "Jesus had bad days, too, Baby." (We call our beautiful, amazing daughter, Baby... a very loaded term of endearment.) The conversation continued and they eventually went to sleep knowing Whose hands they were in. Again, that's just beautiful.

My immediate and irreverent response was to say, "Yeah, but Jesus can turn water into wine... that always helps." But, since I saw that post on Facebook, I have bounced that phrase around and around in my head. Jesus did, in fact, have His fair share of bad days. Let's enumerate a few.

Have you ever heard the catch phrase, "What, were you born in a barn?", usually declared loudly after leaving an exterior door wide open on a very hot, or very cold day. (As the fifth child of seven, I am pretty sure I heard that quite a bit growing up.) Well, Jesus was... born in a barn, that is. Not a great start for the King of the Universe. Since He literally owns everything that exists, you would think that He might go for something a little more extravagant. His earthly parents were pretty poor, so He was born into, and grew up with very little creature comfort. Now, the wise men did give some substantial gifts, but I'm of the mind that those gifts funded the flight to Egypt. That's not "flight" as in Southwest Airlines, but "flight" as in, "Wake up!! We have to leave our home right now and go to a different country or our child will be killed" flight. That was likely a seriously bad day, or two...

There is no mention of Joseph after the story of Jesus at the Temple when He was twelve, so most interpret that to mean that Joseph likely died prior to Jesus' public ministry. Even though Jesus knew His Perfect Father better than any of us, that still had to be a pretty bad day, when He had to bury His dad, and comfort His mom and family. I remember vividly when my dad died... that was a bad day, even though it was a peaceful departure, when compared to most.

In the Gospels, we can see many bad days, and I can only imagine the days that aren't described within the Scriptures. He was a carpenter, so I am sure He smashed a finger or two... I bet He didn't swear, like I do when I smash my finger, but it still swelled up, bled, and hurt. I'm sure He could have healed Himself if He wanted, but somehow, I think He didn't. I think He chose to experience life the way we do... the pain, the hurt, the love, everything. Good days, and bad...

Ultimately, there was THE Bad Day. The arrest. The beating. The crown of thorns. The betrayal. The abandonment. The nails. The Spear. The mockery. The shame. The heartache. The weight of the sin of the world. I really do not think, in as many bad days that I have had - and I have experienced a few very bad days... I am confident not one of my days ever even remotely compared to this very bad day. The most amazing thing is this: He knew ahead of time about this bad day. He even told Peter about it... He mentioned it a few times along the way. He knew. He knew and He went through it anyway. Because He decided, somehow, that I was worth it... that you were worth it. That my wife, and my daughters, were worth it.

Hebrews 12:2 explains this with precision: “...For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” The perspective of Jesus, His reasons to endure, the “why” behind the willingness... ours should and can be the same. There is a JOY to be had in the knowing that when we are done here, we will go into an eternity so amazing we have no words to describe it. No more pain, no more fear, no more tears... only good days. Jesus saw this. He also saw that every encounter while He was here was filled with purpose and meaning. It can be, and actually is, with us too. Romans 8:28-29 essentially says, “All things work together for God’s glory...” and continues to speak on His perfect plan to conform us into the image of His Son. To make us become just like Him. If that isn’t “Joy set before” me and you, I don’t know what is!!

Amazing.

So, if we see this Joy set before us, we, like Jesus, choose to endure. We trust that Father is working it all out. We look forward to the conforming of us into Him.

I sit here in wonderment of this Savior of mine. Words from a Casting Crowns song come to mind:

"Living He loved me,

Dying He saved me,

Buried He carried my sins far away.

Rising, He justified, freely forever.

One Day He's coming, Oh Glorious Day.

O Glorious Day."

Jesus, fully God and fully man, lived a sinless life... a life littered with bad days, that ended on a bad day, now lives in this Glorious Day. This Glorious Day where He lives, and loves His own.. all those who would turn to Him and call Him their own. He chose to endure the most un-endurable day, and now, He lives to justify us with God so that we can enter into eternity to never have another bad day.