Hematidrosis

For Spring Break I am traveling up to Indiana with my housemate. We stopped in St Louis on the way up and walked by the court house where Dred Scott fought for his freedom from slavery. Despite his evidence, proof, and claims, the judges determined that "Any person descended from Africans, whether slave or free, is not a citizen of the United States, according to the Constitution." I imagine Scott standing in that court room: "I am a human being, created equally and beautifully-a masterpiece of The Lord." The ridicule, laughter, and accusations of "blasphemy" he must have received. Yet he did not fight back nor did he relent. He held his position as tough, humiliating, and painful it must have been. As Jesus stood in front of the High Priest and claimed, "I Am He," imagine the ridicule, laughter and documented accusations of blasphemy we know he received. Yet our God persists! Turn the other cheek. Peter, put down your sword, shalom! Imagine all the moments of Jesus' life that are not chronicled by which he was laughed at, scoffed at, spit at... Yet not once did he give up-he persevered. He was under more stress than we could ever imagine-sweating blood! He sweat blood! A very rare condition, hematidrosis, by which a person swears blood because they are under extreme leves of stress! Yet!, when the guards come to arrest the already bloodied Jesus, what does he say? I AM HE!!!! I often think of Jesus as God but tend to forget that he was fully human. I can only imagine the state of his heart as it pumps gallons of blood through his body as his pulse increases and bloodied sweat is excreted from his body. But he perseveres. Not my will but Your's. Our Goe experienced the greatest amount of suffering, physically through hematidrosis, scourging, and asphyxiation but also emotionally as he relentlessly states I Am He although his disciples will abandon him. He persevered for me. For all of us. He knew he was called for a greater purpose and refused to let mocking, laughter, humiliation, blood, pain, or suffering stand in his way. If that is not enough proof, in of itself, that Jesus truly is He, I don't know what is. No other human (as CS Lewis reminds us: Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius) could endure the torment faced by our amazing God. It is impossible. Yet because Jesus is He, he endured and persevered for a sinner like me to experience mercy and grace.