Jesus Yawned

I recently completed teaching an online class on the Letter to the Hebrews. For a few weeks I am sharing thoughts that came from this study.

He [the high priest] can deal gently with people who are ignorant and easily deceived, since he himself is subject to weakness. (Hebrews 5:2 ISV)

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. (Hebrews 5:7 ESV)

With these words, the author of Hebrews is beginning to make his case for Jesus being the new and greater high priest under a new and greater covenant. This writer, who began his work with great emphasis on the fact that Jesus is preexistent and divine (Hebrews 1), now, emphasizes Jesus’ humanity perhaps more than any writer in the New Testament.

As was supposed to be the case with the priests under the first covenant, Jesus is able to deal gently with the people – read, you and me—at least partly because he has experienced the weakness of our humanity. I am yawning over and over as I write this. I assure you, it is not because I am disinterested or bored. It is because I am tired and my body yearns for rest. We have all been there. Jesus understands. We know he grew tired. Surely he yawned.

And when he prayed, he didn’t look as serene as a statue. No, he had very real emotions that sometimes burst forth in loud cries and tears. So true was this that I expect some of us might have questioned his faith. God did not. He saw his real man, faithfully wrestling with real humanity. Jesus prayed and God heard.

This Jesus is our high priest. He deals gently with us, and we go to God through him.