Have you ever seen the show Undercover Boss? If you have, you know that it involves the owner or CEO of a large company going undercover to work as one of its lower-level employees. The purpose is for the owner or CEO to get to know some of the employees, understand their work conditions, what they do, what is expected of them daily, and ultimately, to empathize with their employees’ daily lives, experiences, and struggles. 

Each episode results in some change. After experiencing the working conditions, the owner realizes how bad they are and makes a change. The owner meets an employee who is excellent at their job but has been overlooked and gives them a promotion. The CEO meets an employee who is struggling and gives them a raise. 

These episodes highlight the importance of empathy. Empathy is generally defined as placing yourself in someone else’s shoes. By literally placing themselves in their employees’ shoes, the owners or CEOs of Undercover Boss can better understand their employees’ needs and make changes to provide for them. 

God did something quite similar when he decided to come and dwell with us in the human being Immanuel, Jesus of Nazareth. By coming to earth, much like the bosses on Undercover Boss, God literally put himself in our shoes. God came and lived in the middle of our broken world, a world impacted by sin, evil, poverty, and health problems. 

You see, before Jesus, God existed outside our broken world but was still indirectly affected by it. God existed outside our world in that God was not directly impacted by sin; he didn’t live in poverty, nor did he ever get the flu. However, God was still indirectly impacted by our world. When God chose to interact with our world, which operates based upon linear time, God must enter into time. When God chose to covenant with human beings, such as Noah or Abraham, as a good God, he must fulfill those promises, even though Noah, Abraham, and their descendants did not make it easy. 

God was also affected by human pain. A parent might allow their child to make their own decisions and reap the consequences of those decisions. A child touches a hot stove or falls off their bike after removing the training wheels and learns from those mistakes. While a parent might allow these things to happen, they are still affected when their child experiences pain. Since a parent loves their child, they feel a little pain when their child is in pain, though they are not the one who burned their hand or scrapped their knee. It was similar with God. God has given humanity free will to make their own decisions and reap the consequences of those decisions. However, as our Heavenly Father who loves us, God hates to see us in pain. Though he is not the one experiencing the pain, he still feels a certain amount of pain seeing his creation suffer. 

However, when God became incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth, he willingly placed himself in our shoes, right in the middle of the muck and mire of our broken world. He became like us in every way, pain, suffering, and temptation included. In Hebrews 4:14–15, it says, 

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. (NIV)

Jesus, God with us, was tempted in every way that we are, yet he did not sin. Think about the worst thing you have ever been tempted to do. Now, think about the worst thing any person could ever be tempted to do. According to the Hebrew author, Jesus has been there. He has been tempted in every way you have, yet he did not sin. 

Not only was Jesus tempted by sin, but he also suffered at the hands of sin. Earlier in Hebrews, it says, in Hebrews 2:18, 

Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested. (NRSV)

For this reason, the Hebrew author said back in 4:15 that Jesus is able to “empathize with our weaknesses.” God no longer feels our pain from a distance, but since he has placed himself in our shoes, he suffers with us. When we suffer, God is not merely like the father who hates to see his children in pain but doesn’t feel that pain himself, but God is like the undercover boss who understands the pain because he himself has experienced it. God is a God who suffers with his creation. 

So, the Hebrew author can boldly proclaim in 4:16, 

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (NRSV)

We can confidently come to God with our problems, struggles, and temptations. God is not a big, mean, grouchy God who is indifferent to our struggles or doesn’t fully understand them, but he is a God who fully understands them because he has literally been in our shoes. God can fully empathize with us and, therefore, suffer alongside us. We can confidently come to God for mercy and grace to forgive us when we fall victim to temptation and to help us overcome our temptations and struggles because God knows firsthand how difficult it is. 

As the ancients said, 

He was as we are, and therefore he will help; he was not as we are, and therefore he can help. 

By: Spencer Shaw

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