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The Humanity Of Jesus

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Posted by: mellie73

The Humanity of Jesus
Jesus was as much man as if He had never been God

The Human Body of Jesus
Jesus was born to a very human young girl. Luke tells us, in chapter 1 verses (Part of) 27 though 37 like this:

"The girl's name was Mary. The angel entered her room and said, "Greetings to you, Mary. O favoured one! - the Lord be with you!" Mary was deeply perturbed at these words and wondered what such a greeting could possibly mean. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; God loves you dearly. You are going to be the mother of a son, and you will call him Jesus. He will be great and will be known as the Son of the most high. The Lord God will give him the throne of his forefather, David, and he will be king over the people of Jacob for ever. His reign shall never end."

Then Mary spoke to the angel, "How can this be," she said, "I am not married!" But the angel made this reply to her - "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the most high will overshadow you. Your child will therefore be called holy - the Son of God."

The 4th chapter of Galations also tells us of His human mother in verse 4. " But when the proper time came God sent his son, born of a human mother and born under the jurisdiction of the Law"

And so Jesus became human, in everyway like as we are. Like us, He had a body, soul, and spirit.

In Matthew 26:12, Jesus said: "When she poured this perfume on my body, she was preparing it for burial." So Jesus, Himself, refered to His flesh and blood body as he did after His resurrection when He appeared to the Disciples and said in Luke 24:38-40: ""Why are you so worried?" said Jesus, "and why do doubts arise in your minds? Look at my hands and feet - it is really I myself! Feel me and see; ghosts have no flesh or bones as you can see that I have."

So it is clear from Scripture that Jesus had not only a body, but a very human body, just as we have. If you go through the Gospels alone, you will find enough verses that refer to the human body of Jesus to keep you busy for a long time. It would be pointless to list or quote the many references in this study, since those posted are more than ample proof of the human nature of our Lord's Body!

Thank You, Father, for revealing to us the Truth of Your Word about the physical, human Body of Jesus.

The Soul of Jesus

Jesus had not only a physical human body, but He also had a soul, as do all humans. In the very first Gospel Jesus, Himself, proclaims this to His Disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane.

"Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me." Matthew 26:38 KJV

Again, this Garden scene is recorded in the second Gospel"

"And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch." Mark 14:34 KJV

But there is another time where Jesus testified of His soul, recorded in the Book of John. This one is particularly exciting.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, you will remember that many of those who were witness to Jesus calling Lazarus out of the grave were in the large crowd that always seemed to follow Jesus wherever he went.

Once inside Jerusalem this crowd merged with yet another crowd who had heard of Jesus, and they said to Phillip, the Evangelist in training, that they desired to see Jesus. Phillip discussed this with Andrew and together they told Jesus. This is the time when Jesus delivered a sermon that should have resulted in a mid sermon alter call. In verse 27 of the 12th Chapter of John, Jesus said:

"Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour."

But LOOK what happens in verse 28: Jesus said, "Father, glorify thy name." But LOOK what happened after that. GOD ANSWERED HIM, in an audible voice that all those around Him could hear! Look: "Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." WOW! Can you imagine?

Well, you can read the rest of this sermon on your own and trust me you will want to do that. Our focus here is the testimony of Jesus, Himself, that He, like all humans had a Soul

Father, thank You for revealing to us through Your Word the Truth about the soul of Jesus.

The Spirit of Jesus

We have already seen that Jesus had a very human body and soul, and now we shall see what is recorded about His spirit.

The second chapter of Mark records the story of one of the Evangelistic and Healing Crusades Jesus held in the city of Capernaum. Like always when Jesus came to town the news spread like wildfire and huge multitudes converged immediately.

In this case it was an indoor campaign and the building was filled to overflowing to the extent people could not even get near the door.

As always there were the legalists sitting on the front row, much as they are today, finding fault. And they had their chance. There was a group ouside that brought one on a stretcher to be healed and they were so determined that when they could not get in, they climbed up on the roof and began to tear it away untill they had a hole large enough to lower the man down on the stretcher. That is how strong their faith was that if they could only get this man in front of Jesus he would be healed. My! Can you imagine? Now THAT is determination. What a demonstration of love!

Well, like always, Jesus honored that act of supreme faith, and he said to the man in verse 5: "Son, thy sins be forgiven thee."

Now the cowardly legalists would not dare to open their mouths, so they "reasoned in their hearts"! lol They began to grumble and complain and accuse. But they did it in their hearts. They never opened their mouths. However Jesus knew what they were thinking. How? Verse 8 tell us. "...Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves,..."

Go to the 2nd Chapter of Mark and read the rest of this exciting story, but the focus of this study is that Jesus had a spirit and thus it is demonstrated here in verse 8.

But there is another demonstration in God's Word from the lips of Jesus, Himself. This is the most heart rending demonstration imaginable. Go to Luke 23 and read the account of the crucifixion.

In summation, after Jesus had His beard pulled out by the roots and His face beaten beyond recognition, and huge chunks of His flesh torn from His back and body with the cruel whip with metal and bone imbedded in the tip, and a hideous crown of thorns pressed deep into His scalp, and after hanging on that unimagineable cross, for hours, naked, with nails in His wrists and feet, slowly bleeding and struggling to breath, while His mouth was so dry it stuck to the roof of His mouth, and they stabbed His side with a spear and offered Him vinegar on a stick, while the crowds jeered and laughed and mocked, untill His heart literally exploded, Jesus "...cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit:..."

Thus we see from the Word of God, that our Jesus had a very human Body, Soul, and Spirit.

Father, thank You for revealing to us, in Your written Word the humanity of Jesus in that He had a human body, soul, and spirit.

The Human Growth of Jesus

Like all humans, Jesus was born as a baby of a human Mother.

"So it happened that it was while they were there in Bethlehem that she came to the end of her time. She gave birth to her first child, a son. And as there was no place for them inside the inn, she wrapped him up and laid him in a manger." Luke 2:6,7

The Angels declared it to the shepherds in Luke 2 11,12:

"This very day, in David's town, a Saviour has been born for you. He is Christ, the Lord. Let this prove it to you: you will find a baby, wrapped up and lying in a manger."

And as babies do, they grow and mature, as is recorded of Jeus in Luke 2:40:

"The child grew up and became strong and full of wisdom. And God's blessing was upon him."

And what do children do and how do they learn? They ask questions, right?

Luke 2:46: "Three days later, they found him - in the Temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions."

Luke 2:52 says: "And as Jesus continued to grow in body and mind, he grew also in the love of God and of those who knew him."

So like any child, by asking questions he grew in knowledge and wisdom and maturity.

And so Jesus was born a baby and grew as a human, in all ways, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Father, Thank You for revealing this side of the humanity of Jesus to us through Your Word.

Limited Knowledge of Jesus

Since we discussed that Jesus was born as a human baby, and that as all human babies he grew up and "learned" things by asking questions, and he "increased" his knowledge and wisdom, it would naturally follow that He must have had "limited" knowledge.

This limitation was naturally and unquestionably self-imposed but very necessary. It had to be that way for Jesus to be fully human as no other human ever had omniscience. And Jesus was definitely as much man as if He had never been God. As we have discovered previously there is no other way He could truly be a Righteous Judge.

Mark has recorded a lot about the limited knowledge of the human Jesus. The one everyone is familiar with is in Mark 13:32: "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." KJV There is no dispute this confesses limited knowledge from His own lips.

But there is more. Look at Mark 11:13: "And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet."

This word, here translated haply, is a very interesting word, in the Greek. It has the idea of "drawing a conclusion" based on observance. Omniscience has no need for drawing any such conclusions. So here it is clear that Jesus did not know there were no figs on the tree, but rather was able to draw that conclusion from close observance.

There are other examples in the Book of Mark, but skipping to the Book of John, we have the example of the story of Lazarus. Remember how when Mary, the sister of Lazurus, came out to meet Jesus, she fell at His feet to worship and said to Him: "Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." That is when Jesus saw her and the ones with her weeping and He was troubled in His spirit and said to her: "Follow Me and we will go to his grave." Right? Noooooo!!! What He said was WHERE have ye laid him? Again, an interesting word in the original language and clearly indicates the seeking of knowledge not previously possessed.

If you have doubts about this, a detailed study of the 2nd Chapter of Philippians, clearly reveals that Christ self imposed these limitations on Himself, and though He retained all the attributes of God, He refrained from using them. Only in this way was Jesus able to be fully Human and to fully experience human nature, thereby forcing Himself to do what He has taught us, and here by example, to rely and depend solely and completely on the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit, and HIS Power in all ways.

And so it is clear from Scripture that the very human Jesus, like all humans, had limited knowledge.

Thank You, Father, for revealing to us, through You written Word, the extent and purpose, and power behind the limited knowledge of our Saviour, Jesus. And we thank You and praise You for it, because it was the sacrifice of the human Jesus that provided salvation for us.