The idea of Jesus as our divine role model is one of the greatest and most practical truths that we can ponder at this time of year. We have many models in the Bible. Joseph shows us how to trust in God’s sovereignty. Daniel and his three friends show us what it means to be a faithful servant. Paul not only models Christian living on many fronts, but invites us to imitate him (1 Corinthians 4:16; Philippians 4:9). There are also those in Hebrews 11, the “Hall of Fame of the Faithful” chapter, as it has often called, who show us how to live by faith. While it is great to have these models of the faith—our heritage—it is even greater when we can look to the Lord as our divine role model. God shows husbands how to be faithful, because He is a faithful husband. He models to us how to have proper relationships, handle betrayal, love our enemies, pray for those who persecute us, and the list goes on.

Perhaps the area in which we need the Lord to model for us the most is suffering. Contrary to popular belief, the Christian life comes with much suffering. Paul told the persecuted church at Lystra, “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). Thankfully, Jesus is no stranger to suffering, and His passion week is the greatest example of that. His passion was a platform for modeling perseverance through suffering for those who would follow after Him in faith—you and me. Consider just four practical ways that Jesus persevered and how you might follow the Lord in them.

Jesus persevered even when He didn’t feel like it. He didn’t try to get out of passion, for God had brought it to Him. He wasn’t concerned with easing His own pain, either. He was concerned with pleasing the Father by doing the Father’s will. A good example of this is when Jesus overrides His blood-sweating agony in the garden over the thought of being separated from the Father and follows through with the Father’s will for the Father’s pleasure. If our goal is to please the Father in all things, we can persevere through the Lord’s will for us, even when we don’t feel like it. Jesus persevered in ministering to people, especially His persecutors (1 Peter 2:21). The Lord understood that the world would hate Him, because of who He was. Yet, His ministry of love, compassion, and patience to His persecutors was relentless. His suffering was a context for ministering to others.

Jesus persevered in obedience. His sufferings and passion were His training fields: “Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). If Jesus learned obedience through suffering, how much more can we. Jesus persevered and became our great sympathizer. Jesus was tempted (a context for suffering) in all ways, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15) and able to relate to us in our struggles. Christians, likewise, must sympathize with each other by entering into each other’s problems (Galatians 6:1-2). It is an arduous task that calls for perseverance.

During our own “passion weeks”, let’s remember Christ our model (Hebrews 12:2).

– Dr. Bob Burrelli, Grace Bible Church, Bridgewater, MA