Jumping off the Ledge

The precipice of a high ledge, a bridge, the edge of a building, or any such place that one could easily fling themselves off of into the abyss - if the abyss ends with a rapid reintroduction to the ground in less than dozen seconds - is not only a foreboding place, a harrowing place; it can be a lonely place. This is not the kind of place people linger when they feel comforted by friends, assured of hope, and generally are content with life. It is the kind of place that one may find those who are all but hopeless, tired of living, and can see no alternatives to such. There are bridges that have such a reputations of garnering lonely souls with these type of temperaments that they have signs posted by regulatory bodies regarding live helplines to consult those with suicidal tendencies, as a last resort to rescue the perishing. In some extreme examples, such as the Golden Gate Bridge, more severe measures have been implemented to stay off lingering contemplators of abysmal thoughts and actual intentions. That is, safety nets have been placed to catch would-be final jumpers. I confess that I initially thought this was an absurd additive as it merely belabors the necessary extra step of crawling or rolling out of the net for one more leap, however, this has reduced the ultimate number of jumpers on average by not an insignificant amount. Nonetheless, these places are obvious choices of particular peril for self-evident reasons for those who perceive life as pointless. We may even be tempted to think that absolutely no one could understand the prerogative of someone considering such a cruel, self-inflicted ultimatum, though we know that’s not true, intuitively, as there are hundreds of people per year who go through with the awful fate. There are also those, often through the consort of a friend or neighbor, are talked out of such madness. What we must know is that the Son of God himself knows what it is like to be tempted to throw himself off of a high place - literally! No, it was no in despair and hopelessness; though the temptation was as severe as it could have possibly been for at least two reasons. One, the literal devil was encouraging and enticing him to do so, and two, he was offering him a bypass to the severity of the cross with an immediate acquisition to the kingdoms of the world (which were in the devils possession at that time). Yes, He knows what it’s like to be tempted to throw himself from the ledge. He knows! You are not alone; God knows your ache, sorrow, and pain. But through him and through his word we can overcame even the most severe temptation. Jesus knows you, and he cares for you. He knows.