The Surgeon Who Chose the Scar

In 2011, Dr. Lorna Breen's cousin was diagnosed with a rare abdominal condition requiring a surgery that left a jagged, eight-inch scar across her torso. For months afterward, she struggled — not just with the pain, but with the loneliness of recovery. No one around her quite understood what she was carrying.

Then one afternoon, Dr. Breen sat beside her on the couch, lifted her own shirt, and revealed an identical scar. Years earlier, she had undergone the same procedure. She had never mentioned it. "I know exactly what three a.m. feels like when you can't roll over," she said quietly. "I know the fear that it won't ever feel normal again."

Her cousin wept — not from grief, but from the sheer relief of being known.

This is what the writer of Hebrews wants us to understand about Jesus. The Son of God did not supervise our suffering from a safe distance. He took on flesh and blood — our flesh and blood — and walked straight into the full weight of human pain, temptation, and death. He was made like His brothers and sisters "in every respect," not because He had to be, but because He chose to be.

The Almighty did not shout comfort from heaven. He sat down beside us, showed us His scars, and said, "I know exactly what you're carrying." Because He suffered when He was tempted, He is able — truly, personally able — to help those who are being tempted now.