Jesus, the Man
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and lived among us.”
John 1:1, 14a
As Jesus came into the world, He had to leave behind His heavenly way of being and, as St. Paul so eloquently scripted in Philippians 2:5-7, “to wear human flesh, God had to ‘empty himself’ of all that made him God.”1 God did this; why? In my opinion, God did so to connect with His human creation (us). It started with His only son, Jesus, coming into the human condition as a vulnerable infant child and being completely dependent on His human mother, Mary, and father, Joseph. “A deliberate decision was required; a tangible action was taken”2 to take on His humanity along with His divinity.
I am delighted that He did this because I can relate to the humanity of Jesus. He had all the emotions that we experience such as sorrow. Jesus wept at the death of His friend, Lazarus (John 11:34-36). He also showed anger when He ran the merchants out of the Temple who were selling animals to sacrifice and cheating at the banking tables (Matthew 21-12-14). Jesus quoted the prophet Isaiah when He said, “You have turned my Father’s house into a robber’s den.”
Scripture also tells us that He was hungry, thirsty, and tired, all of the conditions we humans experience. The Gospel of Luke (4:1-13) tells us that Jesus was sent into the wilderness for 40 days to be tempted by the Devil. The Devil first tempted Jesus to change stones into bread to end His hunger; next he took Jesus to the top of a high mountain and urged Jesus to worship him to then be given all the kingdoms on Earth; and finally, the Devil encouraged Jesus to jump from the top of the Temple without being hurt, thus impressing the people to follow Him. Yet, this was not God’s purpose for coming to Earth. He was tempted, like us, to misuse the power and authority that we might possess for our personal gain.
Jesus showed us His humility by washing the disciples’ feet, the act of a servant (John 13:2-17). He also fed a crowd of 5,000 with five loaves of bread and two fish to show what can be done in God’s name with a small amount when faith is present (Matthew 14:13-21). He came in His humanity to guide and direct us in the examples He set for us to follow.
He comes in His divinity to bless us, forgive us and promise us salvation and eternal life. Thank you, Lord, for being so human and holy.
1 Dec. 13, 2022 Daily Word by the Rev. Sharron L. Cox.
2 Ibid.
