So yesterday the Eagles played the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII. My interest in the NFL comes and goes from year to year, but I usually always watch the Super Bowl. This has been one of those low interest years for me. I’ve not watched a single game, or highlight the entire season.
After a busy morning at church my wife and I returned home, got in our keto meal prep for the first half of the week, made some game time deserts and wings and sat down in the living room with the kids. I turned the game on but if I’m honest it was hard to really get into it at first because I really don’t have any feelings either way for either team (I’m a Panthers fan). The excitement of the game had me drawn in by the end.
The most compelling thing to me while watching the game wasn’t the back and fourth scoring, it wasn’t Rihana’s half time performance, and it wasn’t really most of the commercials; one commercial though stuck out to me.
For several years now images of people fighting seems to be growing in frequency and intensity. Riots seem to pop up all of the time, and a narrative is always trying to pit us against them.
The song “Human” by Rag’n’Bone Man played while images of anger, bitterness, frustration, fighting faded across the screen. After nearly a minute of these uncomfortable images the message “Jesus Loved The People We Hate – He gets us. All of us.” came on the screen. To be honest I was shocked that such an ad would be shown during the Super Bowl, but thrilled.
The scripture behind those words come from a couple different places in the bible.
‘ “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ‘
Matthew 5:43-44 CSB
‘Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens — Jesus the Son of God — let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.’
Hebrews 4:14-16 CSB
What great reminders. Jesus wants us to love others. “He get’s us” he not only get’s us but as it says in Hebrew’s he sympathizes with us because he was tempted in the ways we were. This was more than an ad, it was an introduction for many to the gospel.
At the end they gave a web address https://hegetsus.com/. To be honest I don’t know who the group is behind this, I do know that their site is using WordPress, but most importantly they are making Jesus the focus and I hope they continue to do so.