Was Jesus Really Human?

 

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year” – the time when we celebrate Jesus’ birth! Theologically informed Christians know that Jesus was 100% God and 100% man. But even though most Christians say that he was fully man, but they don’t really believe it.

How about you? Here’s a short quiz – see how you do. The questions start out easy and get a little more tricky toward the end. Let me know if you disagree with any of my answers!

Quiz

1.       Did Jesus ever get tired?

2.       Did Jesus ever get hungry?

3.       Did Jesus ever cry?

4.       Was Jesus susceptible to temptation?

5.       Did Jesus know everything?

6.       Did Jesus ever need a vacation?

7.       Did Jesus need the Holy Spirit?

8.       Did Jesus make mistakes?

9.       Did Jesus become more spiritual as he grew older?

10.   Was Jesus ever afraid?

11.   Did Jesus fear God?

12.   Is Jesus still human today?

Answers and Discussion

1.       Did Jesus ever get tired?
Yes, he got tired after walking in the desert heat (John 4:6) and sometimes he needed to get away from the crowds to rest (Mark 6:31).

2.       Did Jesus ever get hungry?
Yes, he was hungry (Matthew 21:18), especially after 40 days of fasting (Luke 4:2), perhaps one of the greatest understatements in all history!

3.       Did Jesus ever cry?
Yes, contrary to the Christmas hymn that asserts “the little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes,” the Bible says that Jesus cried (Luke 19:41, John 11:35).

4.       Was Jesus susceptible to temptation?
Yes, he was tempted (Matthew 4, Luke 4). Furthermore, he was tempted “in the same way that we are tempted” (Hebrews 4:15).

5.       Did Jesus know everything?
No, he didn’t know when he would return to Earth (Matthew 24:36), sometimes he was surprised (Matthew 8:10), and sometimes he asked questions. Although some of his questions were intended to provoke thought, others seemed to be honest questions that he asked because he really wanted to gain information (Mark 9:21, Luke 8:30). Luke 2:52 says that Jesus “grew in wisdom,” which implies that he learned as he grew older.

6.       Did Jesus ever need a vacation?
Yes, Matthew 15:21-28 shows that he left Israel to get away from the grind of everyday life, and when a woman in need intruded on his vacation, he ignored her, although he eventually responded to her because of her faith. Jesus was a celebrity who went on vacation to get away from the spotlight, but he was recognized wherever he want.

7.       Did Jesus need the Holy Spirit?
Yes, he was led by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 4:1) and empowered by the Holy Spirit to do miracles (Acts 10:38).

8.       Did Jesus make mistakes?
Yes, he learned as he grew older (see question 5 above), which implies that he made mistakes before he learned. When he was in school he made mistakes on his tests, just like any other student. When he helped his father in the carpentry shop, he made mistakes, just like any other apprentice. Sometimes when he walked, he tripped. Sometimes when he spoke, he stumbled over his words. That’s how learned, just like the rest of us. He said that Abiathar was high priest when David ate the consecrated bread (Mark 2:26), but we read in 1 Samuel 21:1 that Ahimelech was the high priest and that Abiathar didn’t become high priest until later (1 Samuel 22:20). Confusing the names of Ahimelech and Abiathar is the kind of memory slip anyone could make.

9.       Did Jesus become more spiritual as he grew older?
Yes, Luke 2:52 says that he “grew in favor with God,” which implies that God became more pleased with Jesus as he grew older.

10.   Was Jesus ever afraid?
Yes, Luke 22:42 says that he was in anguish as he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane and that his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. He knew God’s will, he knew that he would go through agony such as he had never before experienced, and he was afraid.

11.   Did Jesus fear God?
Yes, Isaiah 11:3 says that he would delight in the “fear of the Lord.”

12.   Is Jesus still human today?
Yes, 1 Timothy 2:5 calls him “the man Christ Jesus.”

I find that most Christians don’t really believe that Jesus was human. They say that he was human but then they turn him into a fantasy character who can read people’s minds, leap over buildings with a single bound, and outrun a speeding bullet. I don’t think that viewing Jesus as a cartoon character is respectful. Jesus was 100% divine but also 100% human – free of sin but full of human weakness – exactly the sort of surprise and mystery that we would expect from an infinite God.

We know from Philippians 2:7 that when Jesus came to Earth he “emptied himself.” The exact nature of this divine kenosis (Greek for “emptying”) has been argued by theologians for centuries. But it seems to at least a partial relinquishment of his divine attributes. God is all-knowing, but Jesus was not all-knowing. God cannot get tired, but Jesus got tired. God cannot be tempted with evil, but Jesus was tempted with evil.

Jesus didn’t descend from Heaven carried by angels and wrapped in a sterilized blanket. He came to Earth by way of a messy birth in a dirty barn. He cried, got hungry, and pooped his diaper just like any other baby. He grew up, learned from his mistakes, grew closer to God, and gradually realized who he was. As he neared the end of his mission he was afraid, just like we’re afraid when God gives us a job to do. But he overcame his fear, drew strength from the Holy Spirit, and completed the task that God ordained for him. Jesus’ weakness doesn’t make him less divine and it doesn’t make him less impressive – if anything, it makes it more impressive that he was able to overcome his weakness to fulfill God’s will.

It's important to understand who Jesus really is. For one thing, it helps us see who we really are. If Jesus experienced all the weakness of human flesh, then so can we. We don’t have to feel guilty about our weakness. It also helps us view the Bible more correctly. If the living Word was divine despite human frailty, then the written Word can also be divine despite its humanness. More on this in a later blog. But for now, I thank God for sending his Son, who not only sympathizes but even empathizes with our weakness (Hebrews 4:15). “Hallelujah, what a Savior!”

Comments

  1. AnonymousDecember 17, 2022 at 2:04 PM

    Since the Middle Ages, Jesus and the Bible generally have been neo-platonized to where there are two realities: the real world of taxes, broken computers, and diapers, and what I call "Bible world", which is a platonic ideal, of Jesus portrayed as someone not from earth. When Jesus returns, he will be an extraterrestrial, however, as angels (ETs) on earth are. Yet the notion that these heavenly Platonic beings could be cast in an earthly frame of reference seems incongruous. But that's simply the effect of neo-Platonism on the church. Take all the ETs out of the Bible (including Yahweh) and not much is left of the Bible.

    Mike Heiser (drmsh.com) is an Ancient Near East (ANE) Hebrew scholar who has a profound summary of who Jesus was; he was "the human incarnation of Yahweh".

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dan SimonDecember 18, 2022 at 6:41 PM

    Exactly right, Dennis - the problem addressed in this post is really much more fundamental than a misconception of the nature of Jesus. It's a misconception of the nature of reality, and it has its roots in neoplatonism, which Christians today confuse with Christianity. (It's very similar to the way that Christians confuse culture with Christianity.) The church's false distinction between "spiritual = good" and "physical = bad" affects everything from the church's view of the nature of Jesus to its view of the rapture and the end times. (More on that in a later blog post.)

    ReplyDelete

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