THE HUMANITY OF JESUS
Heb. 2:14-18
Bob Marcaurelle homeorchurchbiblestudt.com
Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human - a real human being - just like us in every way except one. He was not born with a depraved sinful nature, and though tempted like Adam and Eve, He never sinned. The sin of LIBERAL Christianity is to deny His deity and the sin of many FUNDAMENTALS is to deny His humanity. One famous preacher said Jesus knew the Old Testament because He wrote it. The truth is, He did write it (through His Spirit), but He gave up that memory and had to learn is like we do, by faithful study. The Bible said “he increased in wisdom and knowledge.”
A. A REAL HUMANITY
Hebrews 2:14-18
“Since the children possess flesh and blood He possesses the same ... He had to be made just like His brothers in every way
so He might become a merciful and faithful High Priest ... and make propitiation for the sins of the people. Since He was tempted in that which He suffered He is able to help those who are tempted.”
Something in the nature of God required the real humanity of Jesus for Him to be our Savior. His full humanity of Jesus is every bit as important as the full deity.
1. A Mystery
“Great is the mystery of godliness, God manifested in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16). ]
From the earliest days of church history large segments of the church have been unable to believe that Jesus is both God and man, and they choose one over the other.
It began with the Gnostics (100 – 200 AD) and lives today in Liberals, Unitarians and the Cults (Mormonism and Jehovah’s Witnesses).
The fact that we cannot understand something does not mean it is not true, especially when it comes to the things that pertain to the uncreated God, something that defies all logic. We accept it by faith and sing.
“I know not how that Bethlehem’s babe can in the God head be / I only know that manger child had brought God down to me.”
This is SERIOUS business, John said of the Gnostics, “He who does not confess that Jesus has come in the flesh is a deceiver and an antichrist.” (2 Jn. 7)
Trying to explain this and we will lose our minds; deny this and we will lose our souls.”
1. His Deity Restrained
“He who thought it not robbery to be equal with God made Himself nothing by taking the nature of a servant and being made like human
beings.” (Philippians 2:6-7)
Jesus could not be everywhere at once (Omnipresence); and didn’t know everything (omniscience). It is not that He gave these up but that He chose not to do them. God is all powerful (omnipotent) Jesus did not give that up. He said no man could take His life. He laid it down. He chose not to use His divine power to fulfill God’s will and effect our salvation.
The best example is a three-legged race. Fathers and daughters make up the teams and one dad is tied to his three year old daughter. To obey the rules of the race the dad must restrain the use of his strength and abilities and accommodate himself to the strength and ability of his daughter.
But if a wild dog comes up the dad can break the rules of the race and pick his daughter up and run with her. This is what Jesus did. He took on the limitations of our humanity. But when God wanted Him to work miracles, or to escape the mobs that tried to stone Him (Jn. 10, etc) He used his omnipotence to fulfill God’s purposes in His live which was death by crucifixion.
2. His Conception (Lk. 1:34-35).
The great miracle of the Virgin CONCEPTION and BIRTH did not by-pass Mary. From the womb to the tomb He was human. We have no reason to believe Jesus was not physically connected to her like every baby is to its mother.
He had a body (Mt. 26:12); a soul (Mt. 26:38) and a spirit (Lk. 23:46). He was, “made of woman” (Gal. 4:4).
From Mary Jesus received the physical nourishments of humanity and may well have inherited some of her looks. His personality and character - who He was- however, came from God. He is called the “outshining of the inner glory of God” (Heb. 1:x)
3. Physical Nature
Luke says of the 18 years in Nazareth that He “grew physically (stature), mentally (wisdom) and spiritually (favor with God and man) (Lk. 2:52).
Apart from being sinless He appears to have had a normal childhood. He was subject His parents (Lk. 2:51) and was even criticized by them () and His brothers (Mt. 12:46; Mk. 3:21; Jn. 7:1-5).
W. T. Conner says no one who takes the New Testament seriously will have any doubts about the humanity of Jesus. Look at Him.
The Woman of Samaria looked at Him and recognized He was a Jew (Jn. 4:9).
He called Himself a “man” (Jn. 8:40) and so did others like Peter (Acts 2:22).
He was “hungry” at times (Mt. 21:18). He was thirsty on the cross (Jn. 19:28) and grew weary on His journeys (Jn. 4:6).
Hit Jesus and He bruised. Cut Jesus and He bled. Nail Him to a cross and He dies and is buried.
4. Intellectual Nature
He grew in wisdom (Lk. 2:51). There were some things Jesus did not know like the time of His second coming (Mk. 13:32), and the WHY of His terrible death (Matt. 26: , 27:46)
5. Emotions
Hebrews 5:7-8
“In the days of His flesh (life on earth-NIV) He offered up prayers
and requests with loud crying and tears...He learned obedience from the things He suffered..”
Every emotion known to man, except guilt over sin, is seen in Jesus. He “loved” Lazarus (Jn. 13:23);
He had “compassion” (Mt. 9:36) for the multitudes. The Greek word refers to “bowels” and some translate it “deeply moved.”
He was “angry” at the hard hearted Pharisees (Mk. 3:5) and wept (Lk. 19:41) over lost Jerusalem.
He was deeply troubled in Gethsemane (Mk.14:32-42) and seems not wanting to be alone.
He “marveled” at the faith of a Gentile (Lk. 7:9) and the unbelief of Jews in Nazareth (Mk. 6:6).
He felt “constrained” to finish His mission (Lk. 12:50).
6. Spiritual Nature
He grew “in favor with God” (Luke 2:51). “He learned obedience through the things He suffered” (Heb. 5:7-8).
Learning and applying God’s will and He was perfect at every stage (Heb. 5:8) but it involved intense struggles (Heb. 5:7) and great dependence on God.
He saw the need to pray, especially on important occasions like choosing the Twelve (Lk. 6:12). He rose up early sometimes to pray (Mk. 1:35); struggled with the cross in Gethsemane (Mt. 26: 38) and cried out, “My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Mt. 27:46).
And His power to serve God and man came from His being anointed by the Holy Spirit of God (Acts 10:38; Lk. 4:18). He was dependent on God like you and I are.
7. His Interactions with People
The best evidence that Jesus was a real human being is how those closest to Him perceived Him.
The disciples saw Him heal the sick, raise the dead and control the forces of nature, but when He died they did not believe He would rise from the grave like he said He would. They went into deep despair, hopelessness and grief.
When He preached in Nazareth the people who watched him grow up said. “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?” When He hinted that God loved non-Jews, they tried to kill him.
Mary and Joseph scolded Him when they found him in the Temple instead of with some relatives or friends making the journey home from Passover.
When he angered the Pharisees enough to plan to kill him, she and his brothers felt He had lost his mind and went to make him come home with them. (Matt. 12:46 / Mk. 3:19) We want to shake Mary and ask her, “Mary, have you forgotten who He is?”
C. A SINLESS HUMANITY
Heb. 4:15; Jn. 8:46; 2 Cor. 5:21,etc.
1. A Sinless Nature
Because He was born “holy” (Lk. 1:35) through the Virgin conception He did not possess an evil nature. He was like Adam before the fall and is called, “the last Adam” and “the second man from heaven” (1 Cor. 15: 46-:47). Do away with His virgin birth and there is no explanation for His virgin life.
2. A Tempted Nature
Like Adam He could be tempted, which means Satan could appeal to His desires. . He “was tempted in all points like us yet WITHOUT SIN.” (Hebrews 4:15)
This is positive and negative. Negatively He Jesus never disobeyed God and positively He always did what was right and pleasing to God.
He was love and goodness incarnate and never sinned in thought, word, deed or motive. He is what is ideal and best in humanity. H. R. Mackintosh says it best
:
“No miracle of Christ equals the miracle of His sinless life. To be holy in all thought and feeling, never to fail in duty to others; never to transgress the law of perfect love to God and man; never to exceed or come short - this is a condition outstripping the power of imagination and almost of belief.” (The Doctrine of the Person of Christ, p. 403)
3. A Sinless Life
1) The Claim
Jesus claimed it. He taught us to confess our sins but He never confessed one. He taught against self-righteous people who proclaim their goodness (Lk. 18:9), yet He said to His critics, “Which one of you can convict me of sin?” (Jn. 8:46) He said of God, “I always do the things that are pleasing to Him” (Jn. 8:29). He said of the devil, “He has nothing in Me” (Jn. 14:30). His disciples, those who knew Him best proclaimed it and wrote it down, saying: He was “without sin” (4:15) / “without blemish” (9:14) / “committed no sin” (1 Pet. 2:22) / “knew no sin” (2 Cor. 5:21) and “In Him there is no sin” (1 Jn. 3:5).
Other people, while they don’t prove it testify to His noble character.
Pilate’s wife called Him “righteous” (Mt. 27:19). Pilate said he found “no fault in Him” (Jn. 18:38).
The dying thief said He did “nothing wrong” (Lk. 23:41).
The Centurion who watched Him die said, “ Certainly this was a righteous man” (Lk. 23:47).
2) The Possibility?
Since God cannot sin some good Bible scholars say the divine in Jesus could not have sinned. The problem with this is, Jesus was tempted () and James 1:13 says God “cannot be tempted by evil” (James 1:13).
We don’t know for sure, but it seems that if He could not have sinned, this cheapens His victory and implies He was only playing a part. I believe He risked everything for me, facing danger that was real. I believe that He could have but the important thing is that he DIDN’T. And praise God, because He didn’t we are “saved by His life” (Rom. 5:10). Paul said, “Him who knew no sin, He made to be sin, so we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).
D. A NECESSARY HUMANITY
1. To Have Sympathy
Hebrews says our High Priest, tempted by suffering can help us in temptation (Heb. 2:18) and “sympathize with our weaknesses”. (Heb. 4:15)
The Omniscient God of this universe could have known by simple choice to know what it means to be human but He does not take this cheap and easy route. He becomes one of us, feeling our pain, shedding our tears and joining our struggles. He didn’t just walk around in a body. He was “made flesh” (Jn. 1:14).
Sympathy has been defined as “your pain in my heart”. Jesus has exactly that for you and me.
2. To Offer Our Sacrifice
“It was essential that He be made like His brothers in every respect, so He might become a merciful (sympathetic) and faithful High Priest in things related to God and make Atonement (sacrifice) for The people’s sins.”
In the nature of God full humanity was necessary for our salvation. In Scripture the priest is one who represents human beings before God. Jesus as a human being does this (1 John 2:1-2). As a divine Priest represents God before us.
As priest He is the OFFERER of the sacrifice, and the OFFERING. “He gave Himself for us as a sweet smelling offering (His beautiful life) and sacrifice (His sufferings on the cross) to God.” (Eph. 5:2)
3. To Live for Us the life we could not live
To make it to heaven we have to solve the PUNISHMENT problem and the PERFECTION problem. God’s tells us to be perfect as He is perfect (Matt. 5) and tells us the “wages of sin is death”. Jesus lived a life we could not live and paid a price we could not pay. Our song is:
When He shall come with trumpet sound
O may I then in Him be found
Dressed in His righteousness alone
Faultless to stand before the throne
