Jesus: The Human Factor

This is my first blog, through which I will attempt to share a part of my journey over the past couple of months with regards to the human nature of Jesus. Growing up, I never had any difficulty believing that Jesus was in fact wholly God, and one third of the Trinity (although I do not even have a basic understanding of this concept). As a result of hearing stories of Jesus' miracles from the moment I was born (not much of an exaggeration, really), I had little doubt in my mind that these marvelous feats could not be accomplished by a mere human. This led to my partially believing the stereotype that Jesus is simply just a Deity that looks down on earth from His throne in heaven. Although this is in fact truth, I have discovered in the past couple of months that it is far from being the whole truth.

In New Testament times, I am quite sure that people would have made a mockery of anyone who did not believe that Jesus was completely human. They heard His teachings, ate with Him, talked with Him, laughed with Him, cried with Him, and well, you get the picture. The point is that they had a relationship with Jesus like they would any other human being. What many were not convinced of was Jesus' claims to be the Son of God, and in fact, God. I think that in this day and age, the opposite is true of us because we have not physically seen Jesus. Over the past few months, in reading through the gospels and some other books, I have become increasingly aware of Jesus' human side. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the final 48 hours of His life on earth.

The Bible tells us that in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was so overcome with anguish that God had to send an angel to strengthen Him. Even though Jesus is God, it was because He is also fully human that it was necessary for God to send an angel, a being that Jesus created, to strengthen Him. It just blows my mind that the God of the universe would allow Himself to take on a human form, and in this weakened state require the assistance of one of His servants in order to complete His task.

Another concept that I always had trouble believing was when the Bible says that Jesus was tempted in every way, so that we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses (I hope I remembered that accurately enough). In my mind, I always thought, "Since when has Jesus faced the same temptations that we endure here on earth? When have I ever been tempted to turn stones into bread or jump off the roof of a temple, only to have a legion of angels catch me?" It is only recently that I realized that I had been looking at the temptation of Jesus far to literally. When the devil told Jesus to turn stones into bread so that he could eat and end His 40 day fast, I realized that the real temptation was to carry out His own plans, without relying on God for guidance and direction. When Jesus was tempted to jump off the roof of the temple, it was a temptation to flaunt and/or abuse His power. When Jesus was offered all the kingdoms and pleasures of the world, I realized that this meant fame, wealth, women, and everything the world has to offer. When I began to look at the temptation at from this perspective, I realized, "Hey, I guess this guy really does have some understanding of what we are going through on earth". On a side note, it says that Jesus wept when He learned of the death of His friend Lazarus. Even though He was God, and knew that in a couple of days He would bring Lazarus back to life, Jesus still wept because He was also still fully human.

As I begin to understand this dual nature of Christ, it is comforting to know that Jesus really is able to help us in our weakness because He understands completely what we are going through, not just from the perspective of an all-knowing God, but also from the perspective of a human. I think that when we begin to understand the human characteristics of Jesus, it enables us to have a deeper relationship with Him because we as humans are best able to relate to our fellow human beings. I do not know what backing there is to some of my interpretations, but they are simply some ideas that have popped into my head as I study the gospels in an attempt to better understand who Jesus is. I know this is maybe a little heavy for my first blog, but it is what has been on my mind as of late.