Jerome of Stridon was a very important person in church history. He died in 430 A.D. and was one of the most prolific translators of the Bible in the 2000 years of the Church. He is best known for the decades he spent translating most of the Bible into Latin (the translation that became known as the Vulgate) and for his commentaries, which are vast, on the whole Bible.
Unfortunately most of us think in terms of how God hates it when he sees our sin, and how disappointed he is in us. This is living with a sin consciousness, which Christ came to set us free from. Sin does grieve God’s heart, but God’s priority is not catching us in new sin so can he can express his disappointment in us. His hope, and what he loves is when we lay down our sin at his feet. God is a God of hope and he longs to see us experience the abundant life Jesus purchase for us. He wants us to be Christ conscious (solutional conscience) and not sin conscious. He wants us to always be thinking about Jesus being our solution to the reign of sin, and our hope for personal transformation, instead of our thinking about what a failure we’ve been. I love the story below about St. Jerome, and I think it will minister to your heart if you think that God’s primary thoughts about you are thoughts of disappointment because we aren’t perfect.
After many years spent in Jerusalem translating the Word of God, Jerome finished his grand project just days before Christmas. To celebrate his accomplishment, Jerome decided to spend Christmas Eve in nearby Bethlehem, in one of the many grottoes that dot the countryside. According to the ancient account, sometime around midnight Jesus appeared to him, saying “Jerome, what will you give me for my birthday?”
Immediately and enthusiastically, Jerome declared, “Lord, I give you my translation of your word.” But instead of congratulating him, Jesus simply replied, “No, Jerome, that is not what I want.”
Jerome was speechless. Then he began to complain and remonstrate with Jesus, asking why he had let him go on for forty years, far from home, laboring at something other than what God most wanted from him. But Jesus remained silent. Jerome started suggesting other ways of honoring Jesus’ birthday – fasting, becoming a hermit, giving his possessions to the poor. To each of these Jesus replied, “No. Jerome. That is not what I want most.”
Finally, Jerome protested, “Then you tell me, Lord. Tell me what would give you the most joy on your birthday, and you shall have it.
“Do you promise, Jerome?”
“Yes, Lord, anything at all.”
Jesus replied, “Give me your sins…”