Because God’s children are human
beings-made of flesh and blood-the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and
only by dying could He break the power of the devil, who had the power of
death. (Heb 2:14 NLT)
Do you ever
have trouble relating to God? We all do
at one time or another. And why shouldn't we, He is after all the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe. Although we are fearfully and wonderfully
made, (see my earlier post Wonderfully
Made, July 2013), there is still a gap between us and God. So the question becomes, how do we overcome
the gap?
Overcoming
this gap takes time and effort on our part but God did provide us the
means. Scripture is one of these means,
as is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Both of these are topics unto themselves but I want to look at this from
another perspective. That perspective is
the humanity of Jesus. Not a simple
concept to be sure and one that has been argued, both for and against, since
Jesus spent time here on Earth.
There are
a number of examples in scripture that point toward the humanity of Jesus:
·
Although
His conception was unique, there is nothing in scripture that indicates His
development in Mary’s womb was different than a normal baby. Or that His birth was any different than a
normal baby. (Matt 1 and Luke 2)
·
Jesus
was circumcised. (Luke 2:21)
·
Jesus
experienced the same physical limitations and had the same physiology as men:
o Hunger (Matt 4:2)
o Thirst (John 19:28)
o Fatigue (John 4:6)
·
Jesus
experienced normal human emotions:
o Love (John 11:3;13:23)
o Compassion (Matt 9:36; 14:14, 20:34)
o Joy (John 15:11)
o Anger (Mark 3:5)
o Amazement (Luke 7:9)
o Loss and sorrow at the loss of John
the Baptist (Matt 14:13) and Lazarus (John 11: 33-35)
The
humanity of Jesus is also on prominent display in the Garden of Gethsemane and
in His crucifixion. In the Garden we
find that Jesus was deeply distressed about what was coming and earnestly
praying. He is asking, almost begging,
that He might be able to avoid what was coming, more than once. Through this He is in so much anguish about
what is coming that “His sweat became like drops of blood.” We also find Him troubled in that He has to
repeatedly wake His friends who he had asked to pray with Him. (Mark 14:34-41; Luke 22:41-46)
Aspects of
His humanity found in the crucifixion include:
Pain and humiliation, as crucifixion was designed to embody. Thirst. (John 19:28) Abandonment and despair in His experiencing
divine wrath. (Matt 27:46) Concern for
His mother. (John 19:26-27) The ultimate
expression of His humanity on the cross is His death. (Matt 27:50; Luke 23:46;
John 19:30) In showing that Jesus had
actually died we see the blood and water issue forth when His side is pierced
by the spear. (John 19:34) This
separation of blood and water is understood to represent death by modern
medicine.
Additional
we are warned against those who would claim that Jesus was not fully
human. That any who claim that He was
not fully human are labeled as deceivers, they are even said to be in the
spirit of the antichrist. (1 John 4:2-3 and 2 John 7)
As you can
see there are plenty of examples to be found in scripture supporting the fact
that Jesus was fully human and He fully embraced being human. He embraced it so fully and completely that
He was even able to complete one of the most important facets of His time on
Earth, He was able to die. God cannot
die. But Jesus did, for us.
The death
of Jesus is amazingly important because if Jesus didn't become fully human, He didn't die. If Jesus didn't die, then we
are not saved. This point is addressed
for us in Hebrews 2:14, “For only as a
human being could he die, and only by dying could He break the power of the
devil, who had the power of death.”
How does
the humanity of Jesus make it easier to relate to God? Simple, it is much easier to relate to
another human than a being outside our realm of experience. Well maybe not simple, but definitely
true. Jesus Himself claimed that any who
had seen Him, had seen the Father. (John
12:45 and 14:9)
In his
book Beautiful Outlaw, John Eldredge
puts it this way, “It will do your heart good to discover that Jesus shares in
your humanity. He was, as the creeds insist, fully human. (Yes, yes – more than
that to be sure. But never ever less than that.) I’m sure the chipmunks made
him laugh. The Pharisees sure made him furious. He felt joy, weakness, sorrow.
The more we can grasp his humanity, the more we will find him someone we can
approach, know, love, trust, and adore.”
As you
continue on your spiritual journey, look at the humanity of Jesus in the
bible. Embrace the fact that Jesus was
fully human. God wants us to seek Him
out and to know Him. Jesus shouted to the crowds, “If you trust
Me, you are trusting not only Me, but also God who sent me. For when you see Me, you are seeing the one
who sent Me.” (John 12:44-45 NLT) Use
this as a stepping stone toward a better, closer relationship with both Jesus
and with God.
