being tested." (Heb 2:18) in becoming man the Son of God took on our nature. Except for sin, Jesus embraced the gamut of the human experience but more intensely. Who among us has cried out to the Father to the point of sweating drops of blood? Who among us has endured the cruelties of his suffering and death totally innocent of any wrongdoing, except for being true to who he was? Yes, we suffer rejection and betrayal by others, but Jesus was betrayed, denied and abandoned by men he intimately discipled and befriended. What anguish that must have cost him! Being the Son of God did not lessen his experience, but showed the depth of his love for us in all his sufferings. His example is given to us, not to belittle our sufferings, but to allow us to unite our struggles to his, so that we may have the strength to endure and be victorious with and in him.