“In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.” — Isaiah 63:9
In December 1914, during the first Christmas of World War I, something unexpected happened in the trenches. British and German soldiers, separated by a thin strip of devastated earth called No Man’s Land, began singing Christmas carols to each other. Eventually, soldiers from both sides climbed out of their trenches and met in the middle. They exchanged gifts, showed photographs of loved ones, and even played football together. The officers who joined their men in No Man’s Land understood something crucial: leadership means entering the same space as those you serve.
This picture of descending into the trench captures what God does in the incarnation. The bridge between the manger and the cross travels the road of affliction. God chooses to enter the same space where His people suffer.
Isaiah’s Memory: God’s Pattern of Presence
Isaiah writes from a place of remembering. He recounts how God responded to Israel’s slavery in Egypt, their wilderness wandering, and their exile. The prophet identifies a consistent pattern: God draws near to His people in their suffering. The phrase “in all their affliction he was afflicted” reveals something essential about God’s character. He experiences what His people experience. He bears them, carries them, walks the same road they walk. This becomes the foundation for how Israel understands their covenant relationship. Their God joins them in the trench rather than simply observing from a distance. The lovingkindnesses Isaiah recalls establish an expectation: God will continue this pattern. He will enter affliction again.
The Psalmist’s Response: Universal Praise for a God Who Descends
Psalm 148 erupts in cosmic worship. Every created thing receives the call to praise: angels and stars, mountains and sea creatures, kings and children. The structure of the psalm matters. It begins in the heavens and descends to earth, mirroring the movement of God Himself. All creation praises because this God commands and creates, establishes and exalts. The psalm assumes something about worship: true praise flows from knowing who God truly is. When we understand that God enters our affliction, that He chooses the downward path, that He makes Himself “near unto” His people, praise becomes the only adequate response. The entire created order testifies to a God worth praising, a God who will eventually descend all the way.
Matthew’s Narrative: Affliction Made Flesh
Matthew tells the Christmas story through the lens of affliction. Jesus enters the world as a wanted man. Herod’s rage forces the holy family into refugee status. They flee to Egypt, retracing Israel’s ancient story of exile and return. The massacre of the innocents in Bethlehem surrounds Jesus’ birth with weeping and mourning. Matthew shows us that the manger leads immediately to danger, displacement, and death. The infant Jesus experiences what His people have always experienced: the threat of violence, the instability of homelessness, the grief of living in a broken world. Matthew repeatedly uses the word “fulfilled” to connect Jesus to Israel’s story. Jesus recapitulates Israel’s journey through affliction. He becomes the true Israel, the faithful Son who walks the road of suffering from His first breath. The bridge from manger to cross begins with a child fleeing in the night.
Hebrews’ Theology: Affliction as Qualification
The writer of Hebrews explains why the incarnation requires affliction. Jesus becomes “the captain of salvation” by being “made perfect through sufferings.” He shares flesh and blood with humanity because redemption demands full participation in human experience. The text uses the language of family: Jesus calls us “brethren,” becomes one with those He sanctifies, identifies Himself with “the children which God hath given me.” This solidarity makes Him a “merciful and faithful high priest.” He can represent us before God because He has lived as one of us. The affliction Jesus experiences qualifies Him to help those who face temptation, suffering, and the fear of death. Hebrews answers the question of why God would choose the road of affliction: full salvation requires full identification. Jesus travels the road we travel so He can bring us home.
Living on the Road of Affliction
The worship cycle these passages create calls us to a specific way of living. We follow a Savior who chose affliction over comfort, presence over distance, solidarity over safety. This shapes how we respond to suffering in three ways.
First, we can face our own afflictions with hope. Jesus has already walked this road. When we suffer, we walk a path He knows intimately. He accompanies us because He has experienced what we experience.
Second, we learn to be present with others in their pain. Jesus models entering into affliction rather than solving it from a distance. We offer our presence, our time, and our willingness to sit in the difficult places alongside those who hurt.
Third, we worship with deeper understanding. Praise takes on richer meaning when we recognize who we praise: the God who descended, the Son who suffered, the High Priest who was tempted. Our worship responds to a God who proved His love by choosing the road of affliction.
Points to Ponder
- Where in your life do you currently walk a road of affliction?
- How does knowing that Jesus walked this same road change your experience of suffering?
- Who in your community needs someone to enter their affliction with presence rather than advice?
- What would change about your worship if you reflected more deeply on Christ’s choice to suffer with and for His people?
- How can you practice solidarity with those who suffer this week?
Prayer
Father, You revealed Your love by entering our affliction. Thank You for sending Jesus to walk the road we walk, to experience what we experience, to suffer alongside us. Help us to trust Your presence in our own seasons of pain. Give us courage to enter the afflictions of others with the same love You showed us. Teach us to worship You with full hearts, recognizing the cost of Your redemption. Shape us into people who reflect Jesus’ solidarity with the suffering world around us. May we walk this road with hope, knowing our High Priest has gone before us. Amen.
“Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.” — Hebrews 2:17
Josh Cehulik 