Jesus was human

JESUS WAS HUMAN
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
NOTE: Not all accept Spurgeon's interpretation of the text, but he has some great points. I
share others on this text and the whole context after some specific studies on the full
humanity of Jesus. Many other texts can be supportive of His humanity.
Daniel 10:18 18Againthe one who looked like a man
touched me and gave me strength.
Our Lord’s Humanity A Sweet Source Of
Comfort BY SPURGEON
“Then there came againand touched me one like the appearance of a
man, and he strengthenedme.”
Daniel 10:18
WE are not able, as yet, to bear the full revelation of Divine things. If any
intellect had been strong enough, if any heart had been pure enoughto see the
exceeding glory of the Covenant angel, surely Daniel possessedsucha head
and heart. But even he fell upon his face and was castinto a dead swoon, for
he was unable to bear the sight of the man clothed in linen, whose “body was
like the beryl, and his face as the appearance oflightning.” We ought to be
thankful that our God has revealedno more. The Word of God is as excellent
in its darkness as in its brightness. Had it unveiled more, its discoveries would
have been no more beneficial–perhaps they had been less profitable. As it is,
there is far more within this Book than you and I have seenas yet, and we
need not wish that more had been written. If we entertain such a desire, our
loving Lord may silence us with the words, “I have many things to show unto
you, but you cannotbear them now.”

It appears from our text that, when weigheddown under a sense ofthe Divine
Presence,the readiestmethod of consolationis found in the touch of a certain
sublime, mysterious, human hand. I know it is very usual to say that the
personage who appearedto Daniel was the angel, Gabriel, but I cannot bring
myself to believe that he is the angelof this chapter. Surely this glorious Being
was that uncreatedMessengerofthe Covenantwho, though not born into our
nature in Daniel’s day, yet took upon Himself the similitude of a man for a
time, as He had done before, when on specialoccasionsHe appeared to others
of the saints before His actual Incarnation!
Even if we grant that an angelwas the personwho touched Daniel, still the
truth which I wish to bring out will be none the less clear, namely, that even if
an angel should wish to comfort us, he must assume a visible human form and
he must lay upon us a sympathetic hand like our own so that there shall be, at
any rate, “the appearance ofa man,” or otherwise we shallnot be
strengthened. If this is granted as true, I shall not insist upon the text
immediately referring to Christ, but I shed the generalprinciple and saythis–
comfort is best brought to men by a man and if we are to be strengthened, the
touch of “one like the appearance ofa man” is needed.
Therefore we may, without difficulty, rise to the reflectionthat it is always to
us the richestand highest comfort, as Believers in Christ, that the Lord Jesus
is a Man and when He strengthens us, it is full often by laying His human
hand upon us. He reveals His kinship with us and our spirit is consoledand
strengthenedby a sense ofHis union with us. My one objective is, by the
Spirit’s aid, to draw water from the ancient well of our Lord’s humanity. The
Son of God is also the Son of Man. We, none of us, doubt His Deity and,
therefore, we shall be able to spend all our time in this sermon in musing upon
His Manhoodand the joys contained in that Truth of God.
Jesus is God. But Jesus was born, Jesus lived, Jesus died, Jesus rose againand
Jesus is in Heaven, as a Man. He is God and Man in one Person, but there is
no confusion of Natures. He is neither a deified man nor a humanized God.
His Godheadis altogetherGodheadand His Manhood altogethermanhood.
We must not divide the Person, nor confuse the natures. He is as truly Man as
if He were not God and as truly God as if He had never assumedthe nature of
man. It is of His Manhoodthat we are now about to speak. We shallnot
attempt to prove it, but shall simply endeavor to show how the touch of the
hand of Jesus, the Man, strengthens us.
1. And, first, dear Friends, does it not cheerus WHEN WE LABOR
UNDER A SENSE OF LONELINESS?If we are true to Him, we are
strangers and sojourners with Him, as all our fathers were. Before His

Cross we find ourselves to be strangers in this land, even as He was, for
as the world knew Him not, so it knows us not, and as it placed Him
outside the camp, so, also, does it make aliens of us. It is sweetto feel,
when walking the separatedpath, “I am a strangerwith You”–a
strangerin the world as You are, an exile as You were. In such solitude
the Manhoodof Jesus is a delicious cordial!
Some feel alone because they are the only ones of their house who serve the
Lord. How you wish it were otherwise!It is your daily prayer that all your
kindred may be followers of Christ, but they are not so. Perhaps they openly
oppose you and make your life unhappy through their hard speeches. Well,
there is a Friend that sticks closerthan a brother! There is a Brother who will
hear what you have to say, no, who knows all that is in your heart before you
utter it! He is the antitype of Josephand He knows whatit is to be separated
from His Brethren. Of all that ever lived He was the loneliest, by far, and
therefore He sympathizes with the forsakenones.
The child of God, as he grows in Grace, becomesmore lonely under certain
aspects, justas the higher mountains have fewer familiarities, till Mont Blanc
speaks to no equal in his awful height, but communes only with himself. They
that serve God much and well–anddraw near to His innermost Presence–in
that proportion draw awayfrom men, as to deriving comfort from them. But,
oh, there are no heights to which Jesus has not risen, no attainments which He
has not surpassed!That glorious Man is with you–with you in the singleness of
heart with which you serve your God! He is with you in the perfect
consecrationwhich the Holy Spirit has given you, with you in the intimate
fellowship of your soul with the Eternal Father! In your highest flight of
ecstasythere is still a Man at your right hand, saying, “Fearnot, for I am with
you: be not dismayed, for I am your God.”
It falls to the lot of some Christians to stand alone in their contention for the
faith. Perhaps there is made known to them what has not been revealedto
others, or which, being revealed, others have refused to see–orseeing have
been afraid to declare. In such cases true-heartedmen find themselves
standing very much alone, at leastfor a time. They have a treasure which
others do not prize and they are bound to show it, for to this end was the
treasure placed in their earthen vessel. Godhas not committed it to them for
themselves, alone, but He has put them in trust with the Gospelfor the good of
others and they must speak it out. If, when they do so, they hear no
sympathetic answer, but are met in the spirit of controversyand unkind
rebuke, it is blessedfor them to know that “the faithful and true Witness” is
the champion of every honest testimony.

He stood alone as our atoning Sacrifice and into that loneliness we never
intrude, but in all other work He is our companion, even He who is called,
“the Man Christ Jesus,” and, therefore, we shall be cheeredby His Presenceif
we find ourselves without earthly helpers. Oh, if we had our choice between
having an angelto always live in our house and to know our secrets, orto have
the Man Christ Jesus to be our constantFriend, we should not deliberate in
our choice but choose ourLord’s company at once!An angelwould often
afflict us–we would be afraid to confess our littleness to him. We would fear
that he would think them meanness. His unsuffering nature we would suspect
of contempt–and we would be ill at ease in his presence. But such a feeling as
that does not cross our mind when we have to deal with One who is touched
with the feeling of our infirmities!
We know our Lord to be true Man and, therefore, we speak to Him with
familiarity and make Him our heart’s dearestcompanion. Lonely One, take
care that you have no secrets apartfrom Jesus!Love your loneliness rather
than seek to escape from it, if it brings you nearerto Him! You will do well to
be always ready for Christian fellowship, yes, and to seek it–but do not live on
it–for fellowship with Jesus is sweeterthan fellowship with saints!I know that
fellowship with saints is poor stuff if it come not through fellowship with the
saints' Master. Whencommunion comes from His hands and we come to the
feastin His company, then every Brother and Sisterwho sits at the table adds
to our enjoyment.
But if we approach the table to see them and forgetHim, then everybody adds
to our discomfort and forms another veil to hide the Lord. Cling to the Christ
of the Garden and the Cross, and find, O lonely One, your sweetestjoyin the
thought that He is a Man such as you are. Sing with me those sweetlines–
“When gathering clouds around I view,
And days are dark and friends are few,
On Him I lean, who not in vain
Experiencedevery human pain.
He sees my needs, allays my fears,
And counts and treasures up my tears.”
II. How sweetit is to feelthe touch of the humanity of Christ WHEN WE
ARE HUMBLED IN THE PRESENCEOF GOD. I know not, Brethren,
whether you are often favored to behold the shining of the Divine Glory and
to feel the warmth of it in your own soul. This I know–ifyou are, you find it a
wearing and breaking joy. If we had more of it, it might be a destroying
delight, for “evenour God is a consuming fire,” and when we come nearestto
Him and best understand that He is Love, the glory of that love overcomes us!

We cannoteat much honey, neither can we endure much sensible enjoyment
of the Divine Glory–I mean much comparatively, for, of course, it is much to
us, but it is not much comparedwith what He could revealif we were able to
endure it.
Have you ever felt what it is to be as if you were not–to see your comeliness
turned into corruption, your excellencyall despoiledand yourself not only
lying low in the PresenceofGod, but being as if you had no being at all–as if
you had no separate existence inthe Presence ofsuchwondrous majesty, such
awe-inspiring love? You feelno dread, far from it! And no unhappiness, but
the very reverse–you, yourself, seemgone, and God is All in All. A blessed
extinction of selfmakes room for Infinite Love! There is not one Covenant
blessing but what, if we understood it, would have this humbling effect upon
us!
Every gift which God bestows upon His chosen, if rightly understood and
truly grasped, would make us saywith Abraham, “I that am but dust and
ashes,” ormake us sit down with David and exclaim, “Why this to me? Is this
the manner of man, O Lord God?” Now, atsuch times of self-annihilation, it
is strengthening to the mind, which is almost ready to expire beneaththe load
of heavenly Glory, to feelthe touch of that hand and to perceive that He who
is our God is also very near. It is bliss to me, to perceive that the Creatorhas
become one with the creature, for Jesus Christ was born at Bethlehem. Jesus
ate, drank, slept, wept, bled and died–and now He sits at the right hand of the
Father! And so, notwithstanding the awe which crushes me, I see an infinite
condescension–no, Iperceive a near kinship which draws me close to God.
Himself, so that I say, “My Father,” and with the next breath, “My Brother,
my Friend, my Husband, my Best-Beloved.”
I wonder what we should have done if we had known so much of God and had
not knownChrist! I suppose I am speaking paradoxicallyand saying what I
should not say, for we never could have known God, except in Jesus Christ, in
such a way as we do know Him. But if such a thing had been possible, it must
have been destructive to us. But now, God in Jesus Christ, how blessed!God
out of Christ, we know nothing of, nor need we. Luther used to say, “I will
have nothing to do with an absolute God.” Beware ofattempting to deal with
God apart from the Mediator, for no man comes unto the Fatherbut through
His Son, Christ Jesus. Thus have we felt the touch of the human hand
strengthening us when we have fallen prostrate under a deep sense ofthe
Glory of God.
III. Thirdly, Brothers and Sisters, and here, perhaps, you Sisters take
precedence overus–IN SORROW–oh, how blessedit is to feelthe touch of the

man’s hand! Bodily pain is the portion of many of God’s people. They are
seldom long without it. Weakness, constantweakness, keepsmany of God’s
precious ones tied to the bedchamber or to the house and often the beloved
means of Grace are takenfrom them because oftheir inability to come up to
the assemblyof God’s saints. Others endure the affliction of poverty–with all
their economyand industry, they find it difficult to provide things honest in
the sight of all men.
Some true Christians are naturally of a somber temperament and, to them,
even summer weatherhas a wintry aspect. The Lord has allotted to eachone
of His children a cross to carry and His loving wisdom led Him to do so. Those
who are, for the most part, without trial, are usually the weakestin the
Church of God. They are usually the leastspiritual, the leastinstructed in
experimental truth and altogetherthe leastknowledgeable in Divine things.
We have our sorrows, but have we not found, by actual experience, that the
choicestconsolationforsorrow is the fact that Jesus Christ knows all about it
and is with us in it!
How often has that verse run through my soul like a trumpet note to urge me
onward when otherwise I should have retreatedfrom the battle?–
“In every pang that rends the heart,
The Man of Sorrows had a part.
With boldness, therefore, at the Throne
Let us make all our sorrows known.”
There is no abyss of grief into which Jesus has not descended!Sicknessof
body and pangs of soul, bereavement, poverty, fiery darts againstHim. He has
sounded the deeps of the oceanofsorrow. Did He not say that He was
exceedinglysorrowful, even unto death? And did not the sweatof blood which
coveredHis face show how terrible were the inward agonies throughwhich
His soul was passing? Prince ofSorrow are You, O Jesus!Emperor in the
realm of woe, are You, O Christ! You could say far more truly than the
Prophet of old, “I am the Man that has seenaffliction.”
Now, Brothers and Sisters, our bitter cup is sweetened, forHis dear lips have
touched the brim! No, He has drained it to its dregs!Now, Brethren, our hard
sorrow is softenedbecause it is only a piece from that loaf of which He ate the
most, Himself. Well may we be satisfiedto go through the valley of tears, for it
is “the King’s vale” and all along it we cantrack His footprints. We know
them, for they show the marks of the nails! They are the footprints of the
Crucified! Joinedwith us in every grief and woe, He is always at our side
when our hearts are heavy. He carried up to Heaven the same human heart

which was pierced below–andthere He remembers Calvary and all the griefs
He suffered on our behalf. He still sympathizes with us.
I delight in that thought of one of our hymn writers, where he says–
“Yet even after death His heart
For us, its tribute poured.”
After our Lord was dead, His heart yielded blood and waterfor our sakes, so
that after death He was still in sympathy with us. Jesus still gives His heart to
His people!Glory be to His name! Who among you will refuse to shoulder
your cross, now? Did you lay it down just now and say, “I can carry it no
longer. I must give up in despair”? Why, He carries the heavierend for you!
Put your shoulder to the burden which He consecrates by His fellowship. It
will grow light when you think that He once carried it!
When Alexander’s troops were on long marches, that which cheeredthem was
that Alexander always walkedas far as they. If they were very thirsty in the
broiling sun and if any water was to be found, of course they brought it first to
Alexander. Should they not, first, considertheir king? But he nobly put the
cooling draught on one side and said, “as long as a sick man needs water,
Alexander will go without.” This made eachwarrior strong, for his king fared
as he fared! Let this strengthen us tonight. Jesus Christ puts His hand upon us
and says, “Fear not. I am with you in your sorrow. My heart is as your heart,
therefore be of goodcheer.”
IV. I will not dwell long on any one thought, but leave you to dilate upon it.
The fact that Jesus Christ is a Man such as we are, should greatly comfortus
in ALL OUR STRUGGLES. It seems hard, this battle of life, this “contending
earnestlyfor the faith once delivered to the many”–this fighting againstsin,
this contentionagainstinbred corruption, this warring againstspiritual
wickednessin high places–andwe are apt to think sometimes, “Canwe ever
win? Is not the battle too difficult?”
In such moments look at yonder Man who sits upon the Throne of God! He is
the typical Man, the representative to us of what manhood should be, no, of
what, through His Grace, it is! He wrestledhard, as hard as you do, but He
won the victory! You are tempted. Does that cause you doubt? He was
“tempted in all points like as we are.” Yet He did not sin. Are you distressed
by the contentions of godless men? “ConsiderHim who endured such
contradiction of sinners againstHimself, lestyou be wearyand faint in your
minds.” The struggle is not so hard with you as it was with Him. You have an
easierbattle to fight and you have the promise that, as your days, your
strength shall be.

Now, as He overcame, finding strength enough for His conflict, He is to you a
living prophecy of what you shall do through Him. Yes, Brothers and Sisters,
you shall trample sin beneath your feet, you shall take the strongholds of the
adversary and Grace shall reign within your heart! The world, the flesh and
the devil, that trinity of evils, shall be overcome by you! You shall be a
conqueror, no, listen–“More than a conquerorthrough Him that loved you.”–
“As surely as He overcame,
And triumphed once for you,
So surely you that love His name,
Shall triumph in Him, too.”
“Did a man ever do that?” askeda bold spirit concerning some renowned
achievement, “for if one man did it, another man shall.” It was a brave
speech!But let us apply it to Christ for a moment. Did He, a Man, live in the
midst of this world amid fierce temptations–and did He come out of that
scorching furnace with not so much as the smell of fire upon Him? Then the
eternal God canwork the same in other men and we may believe, no, we may
be confident that the the victory! Throw not awayyour confidence. Let not
your swords be laid aside. Jesus, Jesus the representative Man, has
conquered!
And, therefore, those who are in Him, “strengthenedwith all might by His
Spirit in the inner man,” shall conquer also!Herein is comfort.
1. Further, Brothers and Sisters, in the fifth place, whata blessedthing it
has been to look at the Manhoodof Jesus Christ AT TIMES WHEN
WE HAVE BEEN DECEIVED IN OUR BRETHREN.Our natural
tendency to idolatry tempts us to confide in man. Among religious
people there always has been a tendency, much to be deplored, to lean a
gooddeal upon men of eminence–uponministers, leaders and men of
experience. We get a greatdeal of goodfrom them, blessedbe God, and,
therefore, we conceive a high opinion of them as, indeed, we may rightly
do if we attribute all that is praiseworthy to the God who gave it.
But every now and then we pass beyond the proper confidence which a
younger brother may place in an elder and we pin our faith to the man’s
sleeve and make our hope, in a measure, dependent upon his sincerity. This is
the peculiar sin of young Christians, but I have sometimes met with it in
simple-hearted persons, evenin extreme old age. The “dear minister,” the
“venerable man of God”–theyhave lookedfar too much to him. Alas, there
has come a discoverythat man is only man and that some men are not saints
though they talk in a saintly manner! There has been the explosionof a

profession, the total casting down of an idol and the breaking of it to pieces–
and at such times the faith of many has been grievously staggered–eventhose
who are somewhatmore establishedhave, nevertheless, receiveda grievous
blow.
We have seenJudas again, and Demas, and Hymenaeus, and Philetus, and old
Ahitophel rising from the dead and we have been filled with grief. At such
times it is most cheering to remember that there is one Man who will never
deceive us! There is One who has not uttered a promise which He will not
fulfill, nor wonfrom us a confidence which He will not more than justify! It is
such a blessedthing to see Jesus standing there–honesty, integrity,
uprightness, RighteousnessIncarnate, truth His very Nature with no sinister
motives or desires to make Him subtle for His own gain, but altogether
disinterested–living for the glory of God and the goodof His people.
To get back into His bosom, again, and to nestle there and feel–“Child, here is
a heart that is ever warm with true love. You are safe here”–this is rest,
indeed! To get back to Jesus and say, “Now am I neither of Paul, nor of
Apollos, nor of Cephas, but of Christ.” To hear the news of religious strife in
this denomination and that and, amidst the clashing elements of different
ecclesiasticalparties, to say, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity” and, clinging to
Jesus, to feel, “But this is not vanity, this is reality, this is truth!” Oh, to stay
with Jesus, Brothers and Sisters!–neverto stir away from Him and to feelthat
the truth which you can trust, the integrity on which you can rely is embodied
in the Man, Christ Jesus!
Is not man the meanestthing in all creation? Do you not feel him to be so
when he deceives you? But, then, when you look at Jesus, how manhood rises
in your esteem!After all, He is capable of something grand and glorious!And
you bless the Lord Jesus who has, by the sublime perfectionof His Character,
redeemedour nature from its frightful degradation!
VI. Again, I hope I shall not wearyyou. Surely I may continue to draw out the
silkenthreads of such a subject. Children of God will find the doctrine of
Christ’s Humanity to be wonderfully comfortable to them IN SEASONS OF
DOUBT. Many of you are free from grievous doubts and I would be the last to
sow them in your minds. I love Cowper’s picture of the poor woman with her
pillow and bobbins who only knew her Bible, true, and left all the philosophies
in the world to those who cared for them.
But there is a class ofdisciples like Thomas who think much and are apt to
doubt much. They do not love doubts–they hate them, yet their doubts often
go very deep and undermine the most precious doctrines. The men are really

steadfastin the faith, but it costs them many exercisesand painful questions.
They ask, “How is this?” And, “Why is that?” Perhaps they have more brains
than heart. I suppose many of us getinto that condition and, do you know, to
me a sight of my Lord is my greatsecurity–a sheetanchor which has held me
fast in times of skepticismand doubt. I cannotdoubt when I see Him! When I
turn over the Bible and read of His Character, I find it impossible to be a
disbeliever! If any man invented the CharacterofChrist, I will worship him–
He must be Divine to have createdsuchperfection!
It seems to me that if the life of Jesus were not a fact, the very fiction would be
a creationdemanding perfect holiness in the inventor. Who but a perfectly
holy being could have conceiveda Characterlike that of our Lord and
Master? Everyother characterhas its flaw. Man may be likened to a statue I
once saw in Cambridge, which I think is in Trinity College library now–a
statue of Byron. I remember looking at it from one point of view and the
gentleman who showedit to me said, “There, Sir, there is the poet!” Yes, and
a noble face it is, full of high thought, rare imagination. You admire the man.
“Come round to this point,” said my conductor, “for there is the man who
dared defy the Deity.” You could see at once the semi-maniac Byron, lost to all
pure and devout emotion. The artist had sketchedthe duplicate man, the true
Byron, a man both greatand wicked!Now, if some artist, able to exhibit the
whole truth could thus setyou forth in marble, your friends might go to ever
so many points and say, “Beautiful! Beautiful! Admirable! Commendable!
Lovely!” and so on. But when they came to some one point (and some of us
may be very thankful that people do not getto that point) they would exclaim,
“Alas,” and they would not like to say much more. They would feel the
conviction that things are not altogetherwhat they seemto be and that flaws
are discoverable in those they most admire.
It is not so with Jesus. Survey Him, before and behind, on the right and on the
left. Come upon Him at midnight. Look at Him in midday. Watch Him as a
Child, see Him as a Man. Look at Him alone. BeholdHim in company. See
Him in His pomp as He rides through Jerusalem. See Him in His shame as
they hound Him to His death. From every point He is perfect, absolutely
perfect! You cannotimprove Him, you cannothint at a fault in Him! This is,
to candid minds, a solid establishment, rendering it hard to be a doubter. And
it becomes to Believers, who love their Lord and Master, a blessedchain
which holds them fastso that they cannot give up the Truth of Godthey have
received, for they have not followedcunningly devised fables.
If Peterand James and John, when they saw their Lord transfigured, were
convinced, so are we, also, when we view His human life on earth, for His

whole careeris the transfiguration of humanity–a wonderful display of how
poor human nature’s garments can be made whiter than any fuller can make
them–how the brightness of manhood canexcelthe glory of the sun at
noonday! This consoles us amidst the battle of doubtful thought.
VII. Further, dear Brothers and Sisters, how blessedlythe touch of our
Redeemer’s human hand COMFORTS US IN THE PROSPECTOF DEATH.
Unless the Lord comes, “It is appointed unto all men, once, to die.” In the
presence ofdeath and the grave, when we really getto look at them, there is
hardly one among us who does not begin to ask himself, “Is it all right?” Must
we die? We shrink back–wecannotbearit. “Shall I rise again? If, after my
skin, worms devour this body, shall I, in my flesh, see God? Does itseem
likely? Is it possible? Canthese dry bones live?”
We have read the burial service many times and heard it read over our
friends. We have thought that we believed in the Resurrection, but when it
comes to ourselves, andwe are about to die and sickness tells upon us, then we
ask the question over again, “Shall we rise? And is it true? Is it really true?”
Often and often have I put myself through my paces overthat question and
this is where I always land–I know that the Man, Christ Jesus, rose from the
dead. I am sure of that. How do I know it? No fact in human history was ever
better attestedor even so well attestedas this–that Jesus, who was crucified,
did truly rise from the dead.
The witnessesare so many. ReadPaul’s summing up of the evidence in
Corinthians. He shows that sometimes Christ was seenby one disciple alone,
then by 12 and, on one occasion, atany rate, by 500 witnessesatonce. Jesus
showedHimself alive by indisputable proofs–we are sure that He rose from
the dead. Well, then, I know that I shall, too, for the Apostle, by inspiration,
has put the two things together–“IfChrist rose not, then is there no
resurrectionof the dead. But if Christ rose from the dead, how say some
among you that there is no resurrectionof the dead?” One man has broken
from the prison of the grave and, therefore, so will all who are like He!
Brothers and Sisters, in the gaze of mortality we shall escape from this city,
for our Samsonrose in the morning and took awaythe gates, posts, bars and
all, and carried them to the top of the hill! The gates ofthe grave are open–
pass through, you redeemed of the Lord! He has rent awaythe bars of the
sepulcher, it is a dungeon no longer! The tomb is now a bedchamber where
you shall sleepa little while, till your body shall be prepared for the Lord’s
embrace–

“What, though our inbred sins require
Our flesh to see the dust,
Yet as the Lord our Savior rose,
So all His followers must.”
VIII. Once more. Children of God, the Manhood of Christ ought to be a great
comfort to you WHEN YOU ARE SEEKING TO DO GOOD AMONG
YOUR FELLOW MEN. This is an awful world, this world of human beings.
If you into the courts and alleys. Enter Jack Ketch, or TigerBay. Visit those
regions where the means of livelihood are sin, where drunkenness is the chief
delight, where debauchery has ceasedto be pleasure and has become an
occupation–whereeveryvillainy is transactedunblushingly. Oh, God! When
we think of what humanity is, even where Christianity keeps it within bounds,
and then think of what it is when left to itself to bow down before blocks of
woodand stone, and offer orgies ofvice as the adorationof God, we might
justly say, “Oh, it is a foul thing! Let it alone! It scarcelydeservespity.”
If we could but entertain the comfortable notions of the Corinthian Brethren
and believe that the world is not to be converted, how relaxedwe might be!
We could sit down and care no more for this poor earth, because the Lord
Jesus is coming and the thing will end–and there is nothing for us to do but to
pull here and there a man off the sinking ship, for the kingdoms of this world
are never to become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ–and He is
never to have dominion from sea to sea. At any rate, not by the ordinary
method of the proclamationof the Gospel–andwe may as well go to bed and
enjoy ourselves, for effort is needless where success is hopeless.
So they tell us, and if I could believe them, I could sleepmore soundly at
nights. But I believe that the world is to be convertedto God and that here, on
this battleground, and by the same weapons with which the fight began, the
conflict will be fought out to the glorious end! And I believe sin shall be
trodden down by the Lord’s people, who will win the victory through His
blood! Still, look at fallen human nature. Whitefield used to say that it was
half beastand half devil. He was very near the mark, but I question whether
both beastand devil are not slandered by being compared with man when he
is left to himself!
Fallenman is a horrible creature and eachone of us may see a specimenin his
own natural heart. But, oh, Brothers and Sisters, let us gird up the loins of our
minds and be encouraged!Let us look beyond the Fall and see whathumanity
once was and what it may yet become!Jesus took human Nature upon Him
and thereby did it the highest honor–anhonor which has more than rolled
awayits reproach. Thoughfree from sin, yet His Nature was human. And in

assuming such a Nature, Jesus showedthe value which He set by our race. He
thought it worth His while to live, to suffer, to bleed, to die for such poor
things as we have been speaking of. He thought it worth His while to preach to
a woman who had had five husbands and was still living in sin.
He thought it worth His while to permit His feet to be washedby a woman
who had been a sinner. Worth His while to mix with tax collectorsand
sinners–the common vulgar people of the greatcities, for He was a physician–
and He had come to heal the sick. Neverlet us give way, for a solitary
moment, to the proud feeling that anybody is below us, or that any human
being is so mean that he is not worth looking after–and so bad that it is really
of no use to hope to benefit him. Have I not heard it insinuated with regardto
fallen women, “Oh, it is very melancholy work to have to do with them and
probably it would be better to let them alone”?
“And these children in the streets,” saysome, “these waifs and strays–wouldit
not be better to let those eminent Christian dignitaries, the parochial
authorities, instruct them in the poorhouse? Would it not be better to let the
grosserevils alone? Theyare so hideous! Drunkenness, poverty, uncleanness–
they so abound in this greatcity that one runs great risks and undergoes
much pollution in coming near them.” Very superior beings, sometimes, talk
in this fashion. I mean, rather to say, that conceitedcoxcombs thus speak!Is
there one being on the face of the earth so degradedthat you and I might not
have been more degraded, still, if the Lord’s Grace had been withheld? Does
there live on the face of the earth one incarnation of wickedness thatcan
possibly excelwhat we might have been if exposedto the same influences and
denied the restraints of love?
How, then, can we talk of sinners as being beneath us? Jesus Christ stoops,
indeed, but for you and me it is almostimpossible to stoop, for we are already
down so low that we are near to the very lowest–andthere is no greatstoop
possible on our part. This always cheers me. If my Masterwould give me a
house full of convicts who had been imprisoned many times and given over as
hopeless, I should feel greatconfidence in preaching the Gospelto them,
because I should think, “Now, I am in the very place in which my Master
would have chosento place His pulpit.” Did He not come to save us, who are
convicts under the Law of God? And, if He has done that, let us never despair
of the worstof felons! Neverdespair of a creature for whom Jesus died! Never
despair of a creature, the likes of which you may see by myriads before the
eternal Throne, singing, “We have washedour robes and made them white in
the blood of the Lamb.” City missionary, Bible woman, Brother, Sister, you

who work among the lowestof the low–letthe Master’s hand touch you and
give you strength!
Now, I have done when I have said a few inviting words to those here present
who do not know much of the Redeemerand have not yet believed in Him. Do
you feelyourselves guilty before God? Do you wish for mercy? Come, then,
and come NOW, for Jesus Christ, a Man like yourselves, invites you!
Remember, you cannot go to God without a Mediator, but you may go to
Christ without a mediator and you may go just as you are. You need no
introduction to Jesus!I know that you cango and tell another man like
yourself your sins, for some are so foolish to do so. They confess their sins to
the priests, as Judas did, but you know Judas then went and hangedhimself,
which was a very likely thing to do after such a confession.
But if you will go and tell your sins to Jesus, who is a Man, and something
more than a Man, He will hear your story and it will not pollute His ear. He
will listen to it and He will do more–He will effectuallyabsolve you. Have you
not felt, now, that you have grown up to be big fellows, that you wished you
were boys again, so that you could go at night and tell mother all that you had
done wrong during the day, so that mother might kiss you and you would go
to bed feeling that everything was right again? Well, there is no mortal to
whom you can go for such forgiveness, now, but the Lord Jesus Christ–who
will be to you all that your mother was when you were a child.
Go and tell Him all about it and ask Him to washyou in His blood and cover
you with His Righteousness–andHe will forgive you as freely as your own
kind mother would have done! Jesus Christwill feel for you, for He knows all
your temptations and weaknesses. If there is any sortof excuse to be made for
you, He will make it. He did that for His murderers when He said, “Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do.” For that which cannot be
extenuated at all, He has something a greatdeal better than an excuse–
namely, His own atoning Sacrifice. He will tell you, “Simply trust Me and I
will save you.”
Do not be afraid to come and tell Him all about your case. He will not spurn
you! Did He ever spurn a sinner, yet? The dogs eat the crumbs under His
table and He never drives them away. Dog of a sinner, you may come to His
feet and He will make something better than a dog of you! But you tell me,
“The Man, Jesus, is in Heaven.” So much the better, for if He were here on
earth in this Tabernacle, then He would not be over in SevenDials and
Golden Lane and over in North and EastLondon, or awaythere in Scotland
and Ireland, or acrossthe seas!But, being in Heaven, He is within equal reach
of us all, whereverwe may be! And whoeverdarts a thought after Him, or a

wish towards Him–above all, whoevertrusts Him–shall find in Him eternal
life!
Sinner, you have not to deal with an absolute God! You have to deal with God
in Jesus, the Man! Come, then, to Him, for He has come to you. The Ladder,
Christ Jesus, youknow, has its foot on earth and its top in Heaven. The higher
we ascend, the more we shall delight to think of the Glory of Christ. But our
first business is to think of the foot of the Ladder and I want you, tonight, to
know that its foot stands on earth, just in front of you. Jesus was suchas you
are–notsinful, that He could not be–but in all else like you. He was poorand
suffering as you are. Now, put your foot on the first rung of the Ladder, His
Manhoodand His bloody sacrifice upon the Cross.
Trust that and you shall climb till you ascendwhere the full Deity of the
Incarnate Savior blazes forth! And you shall rejoice in His SecondAdvent and
all the splendors of His future reign. Tonight you may leave those higher
things alone. Begin at the bottom of the Ladder and commence to climb! The
Lord help you! The Lord bless you! May He lay His hand on you at this
moment, poor Sinner! That will melt your heart! That will cheer your spirit!
That will give you life from the dead! May He do it for His name’s sake.
Amen. PORTION OF SCRIPTUREREAD BEFORESERMON–Daniel
10.HYMNS FROM “OUR OWN HYMN BOOK”–820,260, 761.
Why It Matters That Jesus Was ReallyHuman
Silverio GonzalezThursday, 02 Apr 20
Amid the concernto defend that Jesus was God, we can lose sight that Jesus
was human, that in Jesus Godbecame a man. I understand the desire to
protect Jesus’divinity, to confess his Lordship, to ponder his glory, to
recognize his victory, and to anticipate his final triumph over sin, death, and
evil—this is all gospeltruth. But we need to keepa factin sight—Jesuswas
human, and this is as much gospeltruth as the claim of his divinity.
In fact, it is much easierto understand that God is for us—that he cares,
loves, and involves himself in our affairs for our goodand our salvation—
when we know the extent to which Godwent to save us: The Father sentthe
Son, Jesus Christ. God came down from heaven. He was born a human being.
He lived like us. He workedlike us. He hungered like us. He hurt like us. And
to make the gospelstory more graphic, he suffered the worst sortof death.

Beyond the pain of a long, slow crucifixion in which the victim’s lungs would
slowlyfill up, choking the life out of him as he would struggle to hold his body
up just to grasp at a partial breath, Jesus sufferedthe wrath of God on the
cross. JesusChrist, God in the flesh, suffered God-forsakenness—this dark
side of the gospelstoryis gospeltruth. How Jesus was both fully human and
fully divine is a mystery, but that Jesus was truly human and truly divine is
clearly taught in Scripture.
The atonementis directly connectedto the incarnation: God taking on true
humanity in the person of Jesus Christ is directly connectedto his saving
work on the cross. Here, I want to explain two ways Jesus’humanity is gospel
truth.
1. Jesus died for us as a true human being.
The gospelstoryseems to focus on this sweaty, suffering, bloody human being.
Much the gospelstory records the life of Jesus the Messiah, a traveling Jewish
teacher, and most of the gospelwriters spend their focus on the lastweek of
Jesus’life. Out of the 24 chapters in Luke’s Gospel, he devotes four-and-a-
half chapters to Jesus’final week. Mark commits half of his Gospelto the
final week. Johngives five chapters for the final night of Jesus’life and two
chapters to the crucifixion.
The story the Gospelwriters were telling was a very human story. It was a
story about life, and suffering, and death, with an emphasis on death. It’s no
accidentthat from the earliestdays of the church, the cross became the
symbol of Christianity. This symbol of Jesus Christdying as a true human
being is the most foolish religious idea believed. No one in their right mind
should believe a religion in which God became a human being to suffer and
die for the sins of the world, but this is gospeltruth.
This story is very human. It was the man Jesus who lived, worked, sweated,
ate, drank, and gave his life for our sakes. Jesus was as much a human being
as he was God. This is all part of the gospeland so important to Christianity
that St. John makes a huge point of it in his first epistle, which opens with
these words:
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen
with our eyes, which we lookedupon and have touched with our hands,
concerning the word of life—the life was made manifest, and we have seenit,
and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the
Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seenand heard we
proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed

our fellowshipis with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are
writing these things so that our joy may be complete. (1 John 1:1–4)
For the apostle John, the confessionofJesus’true humanity and bodily
presence on earth was necessary, gospeltruth. John went so far as to insist
that to deny Jesus’true humanity was anti-Christ (1 John 4:1–3).
2. Jesus lived for us as a true human being.
He lived, taught, and resistedtemptation as a true human being. He died as a
true human being. And he rose as a true human being. We see what obedience
to God’s law looks like. We see true kindness. When we look at Jesus we see
the God-man living under the curse of this life: pain, suffering, and death.
And this gives me hope. I have a saviorwho can sympathize with my
weakness.He knows my pain. He knows my suffering. He knows the death
that stalks me. And from all this he savedme.
When we read the gospelaccounts, it’s important for us to keepJesus’
humanity in view. All his life is lived for our sake. This will give you a sense of
Jesus’glory. The beauty of the gospelis clothed in the humanity of Christ.
Through seeing Jesus, we see Godamong us. We see a God who gets involved
in our lives, and nothing demonstrates this point like his true humanity. God
isn’t afraid to getclose to us. Jesus is proof.
When we look to Jesus we cansee a saviorwho paid the debt our sin owes,
and we can be confident that he paid that debt because he really did live as
our representative before God like us in every respectyet without sin. When
we place our trust in Jesus we canbe assuredthat he will redeem our
humanity along with our souls, that through faith we will experience life with
God the way we human beings were destined to experience it.
Thus, when Paul tells of the gospel, he can’t help but speak ofthe God-man
Jesus in very human terms: “Foryou know the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you
by his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9). Now, this is what is so
important about affirming the true humanity of Jesus:He did all that he did
as a true human being.
I want to leave you with a thought that struck me. In Christ Crucified:
Understanding the Atonement, Donald Macleodmakes this comment about
Jesus'suffering that reveals his humanity:
Pontius Pilate was the climax, not the commencement, of [Jesus’]suffering. It
is tempting to surmise that because ofJesus’inner strength he was able to rise
early above the pressures and continue on his way unruffled and serene. But

Jesus’endurance and courage were not those of the insensitive and unfeeling.
The pressure hurt, and sometimes there were tears (John 11:35), sometimes
anger(Mark 3:5), and sometimes an almost mortal sorrow (Mark 14:34). This
is what undergirds the sympathy highlighted in Hebrews 4:15: Jesus was
testedin every way, just as we are. (18)
Silverio Gonzalez
Silverio Gonzalezis a husband, father, and staff writer at Core Christianity.
He earned his B.A. in Philosophy from the University of California, Santa
Barbara, and his Masterof Divinity from WestminsterSeminary California.
Jesus Is Fully Human
Article by David Mathis
Executive Editor, desiringGod.org
Do you wrestle more with the God-ness ofJesus, orwith his humanity?
That Jesus of Nazarethwas truly and fully human was plain enough to those
who saw and heard and touched and shared life with him (1 John 1:1). No one
questioned his humanity during his ministry. What was not apparent at first,
and revealedcarefully and convincingly in his life and resurrection, was that
he also was God.
But it wasn’tlong after his ascensionthat questions came from the opposite
direction. His closestdisciples, who knew his humanity full well, worshiped
him as God (Matthew 28:17), but the first generationof Christians started
from a different place. They began with him as God, and tended to struggle
with the fullness of his humanness. The first heresy the fledging church faced
was that he wasn’t truly man (1 John 4:2; 2 John 7).
The seesaw oscillatedback and forth in the early centuries of the church, and
has for two thousand years. His opponents have rejectedhis deity, and too
many of his worshipers have been slow to own the extent of his manhood. The
ancient doubts about the God-man, full and perfectin his divinity and

humanity, have come down to us today, even among those who callthemselves
his followers.
Human, All the Way Down
“Notonly does the Son of God have a fully human body, but also a fully
human mind, heart, and will.”
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For those on the left, his humanity is plain enough in history, and in the
perceivednonsense of a man actually being God. What’s in question, or “re-
mythologized,” is in what sense he is really divine. Was he really God’s son?
But we Bible-believers have our own tendencies and troubles as well. Even
among those of us who are quick and unashamed to confess him as Lord and
God, we often have not wrestleddeeply with the unnerving extent of his
“incarnation” — that the eternal divine “Wordbecame flesh” (John 1:14).
Have evangelicals todaylostour wonder at the true and full humanity of
Christ? In fighting for his deity, as we should, have we overlookedhow human
— how shockinglyhuman — God himself became in Jesus ofNazareth?
Advent is a ripe opportunity for rehearsing not just the easyparts of the
incarnation, but also the uncomfortable and challenging aspects ofwhat it
means that our Lord is fully human. Not only did the Son of Godhave — and
still has — a fully human body, but also a fully human mind, heart, and will.
His Human Body
The New Testamentis clearenoughthat Jesus has a human body. John 1:14
means at leastthis, and more: “The Word became flesh.” His humanity
became one of the first tests of orthodoxy (1 John 4:2; 2 John 7). He was born
(Luke 2:7). He grew (Luke 2:40, 52). He grew tired (John 4:6) and got thirsty
(John 19:28) and hungry (Matthew 4:2). He became physically weak
(Matthew 4:11; Luke 23:26). He died (Luke 23:46). And he had a real human
body after his resurrection(Luke 24:39; John 20:20, 27).
His Human Heart

“The Scriptures plainly affirm that Jesus both knows all things as God and
doesn’t know all things as man.”
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Throughout the Gospels, Jesus clearlydisplays human emotions. Here it
begins to geta little more difficult for us. When Jesus heard the centurion’s
words of faith, “he marveled” (Matthew 8:10). He says in Matthew 26:38 that
his “soulis very sorrowful, even to death.” In John 11:33–35, Jesusis “deeply
moved in his spirit and greatly troubled,” and even weeps. John12:27 says,
“Now is my soul troubled,” and in John 13:21, he is “troubled in his spirit.”
The author to the Hebrews writes that “Jesus offeredup prayers and
supplications, with loud cries and tears” (Hebrews 5:7).
As John Calvin memorably summed it up, “Christ has put on our feelings
along with our flesh.”
His Human Mind
But the waters geteven deeper. Jesus also has a human mind. We have only
experiencedone mind, and simply cannot fathom what it would be like for one
person to have both a human mind and a divine mind. Two key texts press us
toward this mind-boggling truth:
Jesus increasedin wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
(Luke 2:52)
“Concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in
heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Mark 13:32)
The secondverse, ofcourse, is striking for those of us with a high view of
Christ. And it is, of course, from the mouth of Christ himself. ForChristians
who affirm his deity, Mark 13:32 seems like trouble. But what looks difficult
at first glance proves, with some thorough reflection, to be a glorious
confirmation of Jesus’s full humanity. Perhaps put most provocatively, the
question goes like this: If Jesus is truly God, and God knows everything, how
can Jesus not know when his ownsecondcoming will be?
“Have we overlookedhow human — how shockinglyhuman — God himself
became in Jesus of Nazareth?”

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The mature and carefully formulated answerof church history is this: In
addition to being fully divine, Jesus is fully human. His one personhas both
an infinite, divine mind and a finite, human mind. He can be said not to know
things, as in Mark 13:32, because he is genuinely human and finite — and
human minds are not omniscient. And Jesus canbe said to know all things, as
in John 21:17, because he is divine and infinite in his knowledge.
Paradoxicalas it is, the Scriptures plainly affirm that Jesus both knows all
things as God and doesn’t know all things as man. For the unique, two-
natured, singular personof Christ, this is no contradiction, but a peculiar
glory of the God-man.
His Human Will
But the reality of a human-divine Christ stretches our comprehensioneven
further still. Perhaps trickiestof all, Jesus not only has a divine will, but also a
human will. We affirm two wills in Christ — one divine and one human.
Again, the tracks are laid by two keytexts:
“I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him
who sent me.” (John 6:38)
Jesus prays to the Father, “Notas I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39)
Jesus has an infinite, divine will that is the will of his Father(one will in God).
And as man, he has a finite, human will that, while being an authentic human
will, is perfectly in sync with, and submissive to, the divine will.
It is a greatmystery, beyond our experience and understanding, and beyond
what we will ever know as mere humans. But where it leads for those who call
him Lord is not ultimately to confusion, but to worship. Jesus is one truly
spectacularperson. He is fully God. And he is fully man. Would we want to fix
our eternalhonor and worship on one who was not utterly unique? There is
only one mediator betweenGod and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy
2:5).
True Human, True Healing

“Christ has put on our feelings along with our flesh.”
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Jesus is like us in every respect — human body, heart, mind, and will —
exceptfor sin (Hebrews 2:17; 4:15). How amazing that the divine Son of God
would not just take on part of our humanity on that first Christmas, but all of
it — and then take that true humanity all the way to the cross forus, and now
into heavenand the new creation.
Jesus took a human body to save our bodies. And he took a human mind to
save our minds. Without becoming man in his emotions, he could not have
rescuedour hearts. And without taking a human will, he could not save our
broken and wandering wills. In the words of Gregory of Nazianzus, “That
which he has not assumedhe has not healed.”
He became man in full, so that he might save us in full. He is a truly
marvelous Savior.
David Mathis (@davidcmathis) is executive editor for desiringGod.org and
pastor at Cities Church in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is a husband, father of
four, and author of Habits of Grace:Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual
Disciplines.
How Human Was Jesus?
by Jack Wellman · Print · Email
J
esus is the Sonof Godand very human and yet very God, so how human was
Jesus?
Jesus, Sonof God

Jesus was calledthe Son of God frequently in the New Testament, but does
this mean that Jesus only became a Son after His physical birth? No, that’s
not what the Bible teaches. Jesusis referred to as the Son of God but also the
Son of Man, both, Old Testamentreferences to God, and Jesus once told the
religious leaders, “before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58), and that’s why
they were so outraged, so “The Jews insisted, ‘We have a law, and according
to that law He must die, because He claimed to be the Son of God’” (John
19:7). The Jews understoodthat He was making Himself out to be equal with
God, and Jesus never correctedthem, because He is Godand co-equalwith
God. It is only in His submission to the Father’s will that He places Himself,
but just like a wife submits to her husband but she is still a co-equaland co-
heir before God. I tell myself, it’s not “Behind every successfulman is a good
woman,” but “Beside every successfulman is a goodwoman,” or he’d
probably not be so successful. I cantestify that I could not do half of what I do
for the church without my beloved wife being at my side, working along with
me, mostly on our knees. The point to all this is Jesus was equalwith God
because He was God. He is God and has always beenGod. You can’t be God
and have a starting point, meaning Jesus was notcreated, but has existed,
always. My tiny human brain can’t comprehend that, but I know it’s true,
just like I can’t fly a 747 but I know it flies.
The God-Man
Jesus was saidto be both Man and God, because He had the capacityto toil,
sweat, bleed, and suffer from hunger, cold, and thirst. The author of Hebrews
brings out the point that He makes the perfect High Priestbecause He has felt
abandonment, suffered pain, known heartache, and endured all of the aches
and pains of being human, so “we do not have a high priest who is unable to
sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respecthas been
tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb 4:15). And speaking of Jesus’
humanity, Matthew wrote of His being born of a woman, a virgin, not
inheriting the sin nature through Adam or man (Matt 1:21-23;Gal 4:4), He
had sisters and brothers and a mother (Matt 13:55), He was wrapped up in
swaddling clothes like any baby would have been (Luke 2:7), and He had a
physical family lineage that led back to King David, and in fact, all the way
back to Adam (Matt 1:1-16; Luke 3:38). ClearlyJesus was Godbut He was
also human, so how can someone be both Godand Man? Don’t look at me to
explain the inscrutable God! A very poor analogywould be that I am an
American, but I am also a Kansan, so I am both an American and a Kansan;

both, at the same time. So I can be both 100%Kansan and 100%American
at the same time. I know it’s a poor analogy, but we know from Scripture that
Jesus was fully God and after Bethlehem, fully human. After His resurrection,
He was able to eat in the presence ofHis disciples (Luke 24:42), but also able
to pass through walls (Luke 24:36-37). Thatis the body that every believer
will have after the return of Christ, for some day, “Beloved, we are God’s
children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared;but we know that
when he appears we shall be like him, because we shallsee him as he is. And
everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (1st John 3:2-
3). That means you’ll still see the piercedhands and feetof Jesus, justas
Thomas did, and proclaimed, “My Lord and My God” (John 20:28).
In the Garden
In the Garden of Gethsemane, we see a very vivid portrait of Jesus’humanity
as He prays three times to have the cup of Calvary removed, yet He still
submits to the Father’s will. How many times in our lives have we refused a
cup of suffering on behalf of Christ, and not takenthat cup? Speaking to
myself, it’s far too many times for me to count, so in the Garden, Jesus clearly
did not feel like going to the cross, but I don’t think it was the suffering that
He dreaded…it was taking upon Himself the sins of the world. Jesus Christ,
sinless and holy, became sin for us (2nd Cor 5:21), but it penetrated His soul
to the point that He sweatdrops of blood. Luke the Physicianrecords just how
much Jesus was “in His anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat
became like drops of blood falling to the ground” (Luke 22:44). It would be
like exposing a young child to the most horrific things imaginable. It would be
repulsive to them, and so the sins of the world were to Jesus, becauseHe was
sinless. Jesus hadto become sin for us, but that’s 100% contrary to His very
nature. I believe Jesus dreadedthe cross becauseHe would drink of the cup of
the vilest and most heinous of sins of all mankind, ours included. In Jesus’
humanity, He suffered the blows and endured the nails on the cross, so that
we might be savedby Him.
Conclusion
The Apostle Paul writes about Jesus’humanity, that “whenthe time had fully
come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those
under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons” (Gal4:4-5). If Jesus
had not existed prior to Bethlehem, as some cults teachand say He was
created, then why does it say God “sentHis Son?” How could He send His Son
if He had not been createdyet? Clearly, Jesus has as much humanity as He

had God; both wholly Godand wholly Man. He had a mother, brothers and
sisters, felt pain, died on the cross, but the difference was, the grave couldn’t
hold Him, because since the wages ofsin is death (Rom 6:23), and Jesus had
no sin. He only took upon Himself our sin. That’s why the grave couldn’t hold
Him. Speaking ofJesus, the Apostle Peter, on the Day of Pentecost,
proclaimed that “Godraisedhim up, loosing the pangs of death, because it
was not possible for him to be held by it” (Acts 2:24), and you too can be
raisedtogetherwith Christ if you’ve been brought to repentance and put your
trust in Christ.
Readmore: https://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/how-human-was-
jesus/#ixzz6IKLtgrFG
Why is the humanity of Jesus important?
Question:"Why is the humanity of Jesus important?"
Answer: The humanity of Jesus is as equally important as the deity of Jesus.
Jesus was born as a human being while still being totally divine. The concept
of the humanity of Jesus co-existing with His deity is difficult for the finite
mind of man to comprehend. Nevertheless, Jesus’nature—whollyman and
wholly God—is a biblical fact. There are those who rejectthese biblical truths
and declare that Jesus was a man, but not God (Ebionism). Docetismis the
view that Jesus was God, but not human. Both viewpoints are unbiblical and
false.
Jesus had to be born as a human being for severalreasons. One is outlined in
Galatians 4:4–5:“But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of
a woman, born under law, to redeemthose under law, that we might receive
the full rights of sons.” Only a man could be “born under the law.” No animal
or angelic being is “under the law.” Only humans are born under the law, and
only a human being could redeem other human beings born under the same
law. Born under the law of God, all humans are guilty of transgressing that
law. Only a perfect human—Jesus Christ—could perfectly keepthe law and
perfectly fulfill the law, thereby redeeming us from that guilt. Jesus

accomplishedour redemption on the cross, exchanging our sin for His perfect
righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Another reasonJesus had to be fully human is that God establishedthe
necessityofthe shedding of blood for the remissionof sins (Leviticus 17:11;
Hebrews 9:22). The blood of animals, although acceptable ona temporary
basis as a foreshadowing of the blood of the perfect God-Man, was insufficient
for the permanent remissionof sin because “itis impossible for the blood of
bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). Jesus Christ, the perfect
Lamb of God, sacrificedHis human life and shed His human blood to cover
the sins of all who would ever believe in Him. If He were not human, this
would have been impossible.
Furthermore, the humanity of Jesus enables Him to relate to us in a waythe
angels or animals never can. “Forwe do not have a high priest who is unable
to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in
every way, just as we are—yetwas without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Only a
human could sympathize with our weaknessesandtemptations. In His
humanity, Jesus was subjectedto all the same kinds of trials that we are, and
He is, therefore, able to sympathize with us and to aid us. He was tempted; He
was persecuted;He was poor; He was despised;He suffered physical pain;
and He endured the sorrows ofa lingering and most cruel death. Only a
human being could experience these things, and only a human being could
fully understand them through experience.
Finally, it was necessaryfor Jesus to come in the flesh because believing that
truth is a prerequisite for salvation. Declaring that Jesus has come in the flesh
is the mark of a spirit from God, while the Antichrist and all who follow him
will deny it (1 John 4:2–3). Jesus has come in the flesh; He is able to
sympathize with our human frailties; His human blood was shed for our sins;
and He was fully God and fully Man. These are biblical truths that cannot be
denied.
https://www.gotquestions.org/humanity-of-Jesus.html

12 Bible verses that prove Jesus was a man we can follow
A small collectionof verses that show who our Saviorreally was.
Written by ActiveChristianity
The Man, Jesus Christ: Although He was the Sonof God, the Bible tells us
that Jesus chose to come down to earth in the form of a man. It is written that
He had a human nature and a human will, but that He overcame and never
sinned. Because ofthis overcoming life, He was able to overcome deathand
today He is seatedat the right hand side of His Father in heaven.
As Christians, this is of paramount importance for us. Because He overcame
as a man like us, it means that we canalso live the same life that He lived
while on earth. It is completelypossible to follow Christ in truth! If we follow
Him, we will also end up where He is!
Below are 12 Bible verses that prove that Jesus was a man like us, whom we
can follow.
Jesus was tempted in all points
“Forwe do not have a High Priestwho cannotsympathize with our
weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews
4:15.
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Jesus had His own will, which He denied
“Father, if it is Your will, take this cup awayfrom Me; nevertheless not My
will, but Yours, be done.” Luke 22:42.
Jesus tells us to follow Him on the way of self-denial
“Then Jesus saidto His disciple

A disciple is another word for a followerof Christ, one who is learning to be
like his Master. As a disciple you follow Jesus Christ, who is the Masterand
by living like Him you become more like Him. (Matthew 16:24;1 Peter2:21-
22) ...
s, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross, and follow Me. For whoeverdesires to save his life will lose it, but
whoeverloses his life for My sake will find it.’” Matthew 16:24-25.
Jesus grew and developed spiritually
“And Jesus increasedin wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and
men.” Luke 2:52.
The Spirit of God testifies that Jesus came in the flesh
“By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confessesthatJesus
Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess
that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God.” 1 John 4:2-3.
Jesus humbled Himself and came in the likeness ofmen
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the
form of God, did not considerit robbery to be equal with God, but made
Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the
likeness ofmen. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled
Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the
cross.”Philippians 2:5-8.
The apostle Paulrefers to “the Man Jesus Christ”
“Forthere is one God and one Mediator betweenGod and men, the Man
Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, for
which I was appointed a preacherand an apostle—Iam speaking the truth in
Christ and not lying—a teacherof the Gentiles in faith and truth.” 1 Timothy
2:5-7.
Jesus calls Himself a Man
“Jesus saidto them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the
works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the
truth which I heard from God.” John 8:39-40.
Jesus had to fight and obey to be savedfrom sin and death
“Who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and
supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him
from death, and was heard because ofHis godly fear, though He was a Son,
yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.” Hebrews 5:7-9.

Jesus is called our “forerunner”
“This hope we have as an anchorof the soul, both sure and steadfast, and
which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered
for us, evenJesus, having become High Priestforever according to the order
of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 6:19-20.
Jesus was “made like His brethren”
“Inasmuch then as the children have partakenof flesh and blood, He Himself
likewise sharedin the same, that through death He might destroy him who
had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear
of death were all their lifetime subjectto bondage. Forindeed He does not
give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seedof Abraham. Therefore, in
all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful
and faithful High Priestin things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for
the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He
is able to aid those who are tempted.” Hebrews 2:14-17.
The Bible tells us to follow in Jesus’steps
“Forto this you were called, because Christalso suffered for us, leaving us an
example, that you should follow His steps:‘Who committed no sin, nor was
deceitfound in His mouth’; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in
return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him
who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the
tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—bywhose
stripes you were healed.” 1 Peter2:21-24.
Why Must Jesus Be both Human and Divine?
Erik Raymond | December6, 2018
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What Hasn’t ChangedDuring a Global Pandemic
Recentlysomeone who is just beginning to investigate Christianity askedme
an important question. As they are wading through the biblical data, the
question came up, Why was Jesus both human and divine? Is this an
important detail?
This is an important question. It’s vital that we understand not only that Jesus
was truly God and fully man, but also why it is important.
I have found the Heidelberg Catechismquite helpful in its concise
explanation.
On question 16 we read,
Q: Why must he be a true and righteous man?
A: He must be a true man because the justice of God requires that the same
human nature which has sinned should pay for sin. He must be a righteous
man because one who himself is a sinner he cannot pay for others.
The answerhere is focusing on the need for a real human nature. Why?
Becausethe penalty for sin requires suffering in body and soul. And only a
human cando this (cf. Heb. 2:14; John 12:27). Jesus did not only share in our
nature but also he had to identify with us in the experiences of the fall (Heb.
2:17-18). But it was essentialthat Christ himself did not sin in this
identification with us. Otherwise, how could he pay for our sin? Berkhof
writes, “Only such a truly human Mediator, who had experimental knowledge
of the woes ofmankind and rose superior to all temptations, could enter
sympathetically into all the experiences, the trials, and the temptations of man
(Heb. 2:17, 18; 4:15-5:2) and be a perfect human example for his followers
(Matt. 11:29;Mark 10:39;John 13:13-15;Phil. 2:5-8; Heb. 12:2-4; 1 Pet.
2:21). L. Berkhof, Systematic Theology, p. 319.
In short, the answeris Jesus had to be a man so that he could identify with us,
suffering in our place and sympathizing with us in our weakness.
On question 17 we read,
Q: Why must he also be true God?
A: So that, by the power of his divinity, he might bear the weight of God’s
angerin his humanity and earn for us and restore to us righteousness andlife.
This answerfocuses onthe power coming from his divine nature. There is no
way any mere human could bear and fully satisfy God’s wrath. By nature, this
wrath is infinite in quality. In order to bear the weight of wrath, it is essential
that the Savior be divine. But also, in order to satisfy this wrath, he had to

offer a sacrifice ofsuch a value that God would be pleasedto acceptit. Only
Christ as God could bring a sacrifice ofinfinite and eternal value to God that
he would propitiate heaven’s wrath. By virtue of his divine nature, he is able
to earn for us eternal life and favor with God. Finally, the divinity of Christ
means that he is able to be raised from the dead (after conquering it) and
therefore apply the benefits he has earned for us.
In short, the answeris, Jesus had to be truly God so that he could satisfy
God’s wrath and secure for us true righteousness andlife.
More could be said here but certainly not less.
If you like shorthand categories:
The Redeemerhad to be truly human: in order to suffer and sympathize.
The Redeemerhad to be truly divine: in order to satisfy and secure.
Jesus Is Fully Human
We must realize that Jesus is not God in a man suit. This belief is not
common these days; but it has existed in much of Church history and would
be an understandable mistake for a new Christian to make. Jesus is really and
truly human as well as being really and truly divine. When reading the
Gospels, it is apparent that Jesus has all the characteristicsofbeing a man. He
is born, suffers, and dies. He assures the disciples of the reality of his body (Lk
24:38-43). He exists finitely in time and space. Paulspeaks ofJesus as a man
(Rom 5:15; 1 Cor 15:21; 1 Tim 2:5) and speaks ofhis human origin (Rom 1:3,
9:5; 2 Tim 2:8; Gal 3:16, 4:4). Not only does Jesus have a human body, but he
has a human soul, as Jesus himself tells us (Mt 26:38; Lk 23:46). Finally, Jesus
frequently refers to himself as being the Son of Man (Mt 16:27;Mk 2:28; Lk
5:24; Jn 5:27; and many others), which indicates that he sees himselfas
human.
How is it possible to be both human and divine? Even though our instincts
say that this must be contradictory, upon further inspectionno contradiction
is apparent. We see Jesus acting both as man and God throughout the
Gospels. We must trust the data before we trust our ownbiases about the way
things are "supposed" to be.

When did his humanity begin? To be human means to be limited in time
and to be born of flesh, so his humanity must have begun at the moment of
conception, which makes Mary his true mother, not just a temporary
residence. This is confirmed by scripture (Mt 1:16; Lk 1:31; Gal 4:4). How
does his humanity begin? It begins by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is
explicitly stated in scripture (Mt 1:18-21;Lk 1:34-35)and can also be further
understood because the Holy Spirit is the giver of life. All three members of
the Trinity are involved in the incarnation: Father, Son, and Spirit. When
does his humanity end? It does not, as our humanity does not. In addition,
scripture teaches that after he was resurrected, he spent some time with the
disciples, and then he ascendedinto Heaven (Mk 16:19;Lk 24:50-51;Jn 1:51),
and that he will be with us always (Mt 28:20). He ascendedintact. His body
and soul were not left behind or destroyedin the process. At first, ascension
seems strange, but after the resurrectionany other departure for Jesus would
be stranger. It would be awfully silly to be resurrectedand just die again a
short while later. If he had lived to old age, we would certainly have a record
of it. There is also evidence from scripture that Jesus's resurrectedbody is
fundamentally different as he is not easily recognizedby his followers (Lk
24:15-16). Becausewe know that he beat death once, it is unclear that he could
have died after he was resurrected.
The humanity of Jesus teachesus that God understands us directly, not
purely intellectually. Additionally, if Jesus was Godin a man suit, the
suffering of Jesus would be meaningless, because Jesus must be a man to
suffer. This leads us to our next topic, Jesus as redeemer.
http://www.systematicchristianity.org/JesusIsFullyHuman.htm
April 11, 2014 By Jamie Rohrbaugh Leave a Comment
How To Prove That Jesus Is Fully Human
Have you ever heard someone try to tell you that Jesus wasn'ta real man, so
we can't really expectourselves to be like Him?
If so, it's a lie. Jesus Christwas–andstill is–fully human. Today's Bible Boot
Camp lessonwill give you the ammo you need to prove it.
Why should we care that Jesus is fully human?

In order to qualify to take the punishment for your sins and mine, Jesus
Christ had to be both fully God and fully human:
He had to be fully God because we humans are incapable of perfection, and
only a perfect sacrifice forsin was acceptableto God. (For more info on that,
check out this post about how to prove that Jesus is fully God.)
He had to be fully human because only a human can take the punishment for
the sins of the human race.
So how can we prove to the skeptic that Christ is fully God and fully human?
Here's how to prove that Jesus is fully human:
Contrary to the Gnostic belief that Jesus was only a spirit (and did not
actually come in the flesh), Jesus was a man. He lived as a man and died as a
man.
He had to endure through temptation like we do. Hebrews 4:15 states:“For
we do not have a High Priestwho cannotsympathize with our weaknesses, but
was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
He experienced the full range of human emotions, including anger, joy,
compassion, andgrief.
He experienced physical weakness, [1]hunger, [2] and thirst. [3]
He ate real food. [4]
He died, just as men die. If He had only been a spirit, instead of a man, He
would have been unable to die.
Jesus Christ is a true man. He is completely human. BecauseHe is human, He
was fully qualified to pay the price for human sin.
Does He currently have a different body?
Yes. He has a resurrected, perfectedbody, just like He will give you one day
when you go to Heaven(if He is the Lord of your life).
Does He look different now?
Yes. We know from the Bible (from people that saw visions of Him after He
went back to Heaven) that His divinity is now shining through His body. He
no longer has to limit Himself to just His human nature, so He doesn't:
His eyes burn with flames of fire.
His feetshine like brass.
His voice sounds like the sound of a lot of waterflowing.

Related:Downloadmy free worship music album here, “BeholdYour God,”
in which my friends and I sing through the physical descriptions of Jesus in
the Bible. Check out songs 3, 5, and 15 especially!
Why doesn't Jesus look the same as He did on earth?
Now that His work for mankind is done, Jesus doesn'thave to limit Himself to
His human nature anymore. He still has a human body, but His God-ness can
shine through now. However, that doesn't negate the fact that He is still a
Man. He calls Himself the Sonof Man, and He chooses to identify Himself
with us.
So why did He become a human in the first place?
Jesus Christ had to become a man because,in order pay the price for our sins,
He had to become like us. He had to experience the same sufferings and
susceptibility to sin that we experience.
As a man, Christ was calledby God to suffer through hardship and
temptation the same way we do and to win the victory over every sin. Only
then could God acceptHis sacrifice as the sacrifice ofa perfect Man for
imperfect men.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his book The Costof Discipleship, said:
Suffering and rejectionare laid upon Jesus as a divine necessity, andevery
attempt to prevent it is the work of the devil, especiallywhen it comes from
His own disciples;for it is in fact an attempt to prevent Christ from being
Christ.” [5]
What a story. What a God, and what a Man! Jesus became a Man, was born
as a baby, and grew up to die on the cross to pay the price for everything you
and I have ever done wrong.
Jesus paid the price so all our sins could be forgiven. Do you know Him? Will
you receive His gift of forgiveness, so youcan have eternal life? Click here to
find out more!
[1] Luke 22:43, NKJV
[2] Luke 4:2, NKJV
[3] John 18:28, NKJV
[4] Luke 24:43, NKJV
[5] Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, The Costof Discipleship, 87

What the Bible says about Jesus Christ as a Flesh -and -Blood Human
(From Forerunner Commentary)
Luke 2:40
Even Jesus, though He was God—Deity—hadto increase the same way that
we do. He had to study God's Word, to question, to grow.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace, andLaw (Part 19)
RelatedTopics:Assimilating Spiritual Food| God's Word as Spiritual Food |
Growth | Jesus Christas a Flesh -and -Blood Human | Jesus Christ's
Humanity | Process ofSpiritual Growth | Spiritual Growth | Spiritual Growth,
Processof| Study | Studying
John 17:5
Whateverthis glory is that He asks to be restored, it is something He did not
have as a human, but He did have when He truly was fully God. He had it
before He was born of Mary, did not have it during His physical life, and had
it returned to Him upon His resurrectionand ascension.
In the New Testament, gloryis used in the sense of anything that brings honor
and praise upon a person. It can be one's works, attitude, manner of living,
skill, strength, wisdom, power, appearance, orstatus. Some or all of these
could be included within the framework of Christ's request. The Bible does
not clarify or expand on what He specificallymeant, but whateverit was, it
was lacking in Him while He was human. Therefore He could not have been
"fully man and fully God."

John W. Ritenbaugh
Fully Man and Fully God?
RelatedTopics:Docetism| Fully Man and Fully God | Glorification| Glorified
Body | Glory | Jesus Christ as a Flesh -and -Blood Human | Jesus Christas
God | Jesus Christas God Incarnate | Jesus Christ's Humanity
Romans 8:3
Christ came as a human being and had to deal with life as we do. He had the
same time, space, andconstraints as we do. He became tired and had to eat.
Was He not subject to the futility of this world? Was He not subject to
decisions made by others beyond His control? Was He not subject to
persecution? Was He not subject to pain? Did He not get caught in other
people's dilemmas? Did the court system treat Him in an advantageous way?
No, He receivedan unjust trial. He did not receive the decisionHe deserved,
and His life was takenawayas a result. On the stake, He suffered pain
unjustly. He had to deal with things the same way as we do.
What this does for us is—becauseofGod's calling and the response we have
made—Godadds to the gift. He not only gave His Son, but now He gives His
Spirit. We find in verse 11 that, if we have that Spirit, we have the beginnings,
the down payment, on immortality, on eternal life. We become sons and
daughters of this greatGod. We are drawn into a Family, which is not only a
family in the normal sense, but we also become brothers and sisters ofChrist
in another, equally important area. It has something to do with the fact that
He, too, was subject to the same kind of sufferings we are—the unfairness of
life.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Ecclesiastesand the Feastof Tabernacles(Part1)

RelatedTopics:Christ, Humanity of | Futility of this World | Holy Spirit as
Deposit| Holy Spirit as Downpayment | Holy Spirit as Earnest| Holy Spirit as
Gift | Holy Spirit as Pledge | Holy Spirit as Powerto Obey | Jesus Christ as a
Flesh-and -Blood Human | Jesus Christ's Suffering | Subjection to Futility |
Suffering | Suffering, Learning through
Philippians 2:6-7
Phillips renders this, "Forhe, who had always been Godby nature, did not
cling to his privileges as God's equal, but stripped Himself of every advantage
by consenting to be a slave by nature and being born a man." Moffatt
translates, "Thoughhe was divine by nature, he did not set store upon
equality with God, but emptied himself by taking the nature of a servant;
born in human guise and appearing in human form." As in other scriptures,
He was God, divine by nature, with—beside, accompanying—a different
personality also calledGod!
John W. Ritenbaugh
God Is . . . What?
RelatedTopics:Godhead| Jesus Christ as a Flesh -and -Blood Human | Jesus
Christ as God | Jesus Christ as God Incarnate | Jesus Christas Servant | Jesus
Christ's Divinity | Jesus Christ's Humanity
Philippians 2:7
The clause, "He made Himself of no reputation," more literally reads, "He
emptied Himself." Instead of asserting His rights to the expressionof the
essenceofDeity, He waived His rights and relinquished them. Compared to

the fullness of God, He must indeed have felt empty once He gave up "the
form of God"!
The word form in verse 7 is the same Greek word as in verse 6. The
grammaticalstructure of the sentence demands that the "taking the form of a
servant" precededand causedHis "making Himself of no reputation."
Remember, form is the outward expressionof inner nature. The sentence,
though, indicates an exchange of such expression. Therefore,being a servant
was not something of His inner nature that had been previously expressed. It
was not His usual mode of outward expression. Before, He conveyedglory and
sovereigntyover all things, but afterward, He manifested servanthood.
An event in the life of Jesus may help explain this exchange ofexpressions.
What happened in His incarnation was the exactopposite of what occurredat
the transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-5; Mark 9:2-7). Luke writes that His
"appearance . . . was altered" (Luke 9:29), and Peter, James, and John "saw
His glory" (verse 32). On the Mount of Transfiguration, He was changedfrom
His normal, human outward expressionas a servant to the outward
expressionof Deity.
Of what did He empty Himself? He did not empty Himself of His Deity, but
rather the outward expressionof His Deity and all it implies. As one author
puts it, "He emptied Himself of His existence-in-a-manner-equal-to-God." He
setaside His legitimate and natural desires and prerogatives as Deityso that
He might express Himself as a servant.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Fully Man and Fully God?
RelatedTopics:Deity | Form | Fully Man and Fully God | Humble Oneself|
Humility | Jesus Christ as a Flesh -and -Blood Human | Jesus Christas God
Incarnate | Jesus Christ as Servant | Jesus Christ as the Sonof God| Jesus
Christ as the Son of Man | Jesus Christ's Divinity | Jesus Christ's Humanity |
Servant | Servant Attitude
Colossians 2:9-10

At every turn, it seems, the main objectof Gnosticismwas to twist the nature
of Christ. Some Gnostics believedthat Jesus was a man, but that Christ
entered into Jesus whenHe was baptized and left Him right before He died.
Other Gnostics believedthat Jesus did not really die - because, afterall, if He
died, then He was not really God. Others believed that He could not have been
perfect and sinless because He createdmatter, which Gnostics believedto be
evil. And there were also those who believed that Jesus Christ was a created
being - an idea that is still affecting the fringes of the church of God today.
So if we want to counter Gnosticism, we must begin with the truth of Jesus
Christ. Paul emphasizes this in verses 9-10:Jesus was the fullness of the divine
nature in bodily form, and He is the head, the leader, the sovereign, ofevery
principality and power. Though the Gnostics in their various views always
twisted or denied some aspectofthe nature and role of Jesus Christ, these
truths brought out by the apostle are bedrock beliefs for true Christians.
Also foundational to countering Gnosticismis the truth that Jesus brought. To
combat the false knowledge that threatens to plunder our spiritual riches, we
must take the Bible as the complete and inspired Word of God, againstwhich
we can test any concept, tradition, doctrine, or philosophy, no matter how
goodit sounds on the surface. Gnostics wouldnot readily acceptthe Bible as
God's inspired revelation, or if they did, they also held that other ancient,
secretwritings were on par with Scripture, and could be trusted to provide
greaterinsight.
In addition, Gnostics were also avid proponents of "progressive revelation,"
the belief that God is continuing to revealHis will to mankind, but with the
implication that Holy Scripture is not as important as hearing directly from
the spirit world. Thus, some today, while not entirely rejecting the Bible,
believe that "God" is personally revealing things to them - things which often
contradict what He has already given to mankind in the His written Word.
David C. Grabbe
WhateverHappened to Gnosticism? Part Two:Defining Gnosticism
RelatedTopics:Bible as God's Inspired Revelation| Bible as Word of God |
Docetism| Dualism | Fully Man and Fully God | Gnosticism| Jesus Christ as a
Flesh-and -Blood Human | Jesus Christ's Divinity | Jesus Christ's Humanity |
Knowledge | Progressive Revelation| Revelation| Word of God

Hebrews 4:15
Our High Priest, Jesus Christ, was trained—perfected, as it were—forthe
position He now holds. The Bible says that we will be priests and kings under
Him (Revelation5:10). A God-being had never experiencedlife as a human
being until the Word became flesh, when He was encompassedwith the same
kind of frame we are. He then also had a mind that was subject to Satanthe
Devil, if He would allow it.
He suffered many things: He went through difficulties and angers. He felt and
endured pain as we do. He took care of a mother. He workedwith a father. He
had younger brothers and sisters. Whenhis father died, it appears that He
became responsible for the family and running the family business. He ran a
business as a stonemason, a constructionworker, and He did it, undoubtedly,
very well.
He learned to work with His hands. He became hungry. He fastedand prayed.
He experienced hatred. He learned to trust God and walkedwith Him, hand
in hand, through His own periods in the valley of the shadow of deep gloom.
He experienced, in principle, everything in life.
We have to remember that we are being trained to work under Him. Some of
the fruit that is produced as a result of our going through these valleys will be
helpful to others, even here and now. However, it will be extremely helpful
when we are in the Kingdom of God. We need to understand, however, that
always, no matter how dark, shadowy, or painful our experiences,we have the
very best managementthat any spiritual sheepcould ever possibly have.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Psalm23 (Part 3)
RelatedTopics:High Priest| Jesus Christ as a Flesh -and -Blood Human |
Jesus Christ as High Priest| Jesus Christ as Shepherd | Suffering | Suffering,
Learning through

1 John 1:1
As a witness to Jesus Christ's entire ministry, John shows how He was not an
apparition or a phantom. The apostles had heard His voice with their ears,
seenHim with their eyes, and touched Him with their hands. He is writing to
leave no doubt that Jesus Christwas a physical human being but at the same
time the very Word of God.
Earl L. Henn (1934-1997)
For the Perfecting of the Saints
RelatedTopics:Fully Man and Fully God | Jesus Christas a Flesh -and -
BloodHuman | Testimony | Testimonyof Eye Witnesses | Testimonyof Jesus
Christ
1 John 2:22-23
The denial "that Jesus is the Christ" does not imply that the Docetiststhought
Jesus was not the Messiah. Rather, the Docetistsclaimedthat Jesus—the Man
whom John had heard, seenand touched—was nottruly God in the flesh and
that the true Christ was an etherealbeing in heaven. John argues that such a
teaching denies the family relationship of the Fatherand the Son, obscuring
the true nature of God.
Furthermore, John writes, anyone who denies that Jesus was Godin the flesh,
subject to temptation just like all human beings, "does nothave the Father
either." Such a person simply does not understand the gospelmessage thatwe
have the opportunity to become members of the God Family (I John 3:1-2).
Jesus says, "He who has seenMe has seenthe Father" (John 14:9). If we
distort the image of Jesus Christand who He was, we end up altering our
conceptof the Fatheralso.

Earl L. Henn (1934-1997)
For the Perfecting of the Saints
RelatedTopics:Docetism| Family of God | God Family | God's Family | Jesus
as God in the Flesh| Jesus Christ as a Flesh -and -Blood Human
1 John 4:2-3
The end of the first century witnessedmany hereticalteachings. One of these
heresies, Gnosticism, taught that Jesus Christwas not really a flesh-and-blood
human being but a spirit that was manifestedas a human being. This was
undoubtedly one of the things John was alluding to when he wrote these
verses.
However, there is also a deeper meaning to these words that John was
inspired to write. The Holy Spirit inspired John to use the Greek perfect
participle for the words "has come" in the above verses. The perfecttense
implies not only the historicalfact of Jesus Christ having been born as a flesh-
and-blood human being but also the presentcontinuance of this fact. John is
saying that Jesus Christ is still human in the sense that He is living His life
over againin human beings who submit to Him through the powerof the Holy
Spirit.
The messageofthis scripture is simply this: A teacheris of God if he teaches
that Jesus Christ is coming—living His life over againin the flesh of every
true, regeneratedChristian—andthat a Christian must follow Him wherever
He leads and emulate Him in every way. But a teacherwho teaches thatone
does not have to follow Christ and that it is not necessaryfor Christ to live in
the flesh of His disciples is not of God. John says that this false teaching stems
from the spirit of antichrist (verse 3).
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES

Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
War In The Realm Supernatural
Daniel 10:13, 20-ch. Daniel11:1
H.T. Robjohns
And now will I return to fight with the Prince of Persia (ver. 20). In these
verses we have opened out the fact that there is warin the realm supernatural.
To understand them, it is absolutely necessaryto revise the Englishversion.
We read thus: "And the prince of the kingdom of Persia stoodagainstme
twenty and one days, and behold Michaelone of the chief princes came to help
me, and I gainedthe superiority there by the side of the kings of Persia And
he said, Dostthou know why I came unto thee? And now I will return to war
with the Prince of Persia, and while I [thus] go forth [to war], behold the
Prince of Javanwill come. But yet I will show to thee that which is written in
the book of truth. And not one is there showing himself strong with me against
these [the princes of Persia and Javan] exceptMichaelyour prince; I also in
the first year of Darius the Mode stoodin order to strengthen and for a
fortress to him" (i.e. Michael). This reading of ours is necessaryto make clear
the meaning of our homileticalculture. Lest any should be surprised at the
fulness of the revelation in Daniel as to angels and the angel-world, we may
observe that there are two epochs in Hebrew history, when angels are
speciallyprominent.
1. The time of the judges. Destitute of direct revelation or prophetic guidance.
2. The period of the Captivity. One of specialtrial, incident to contactwit h
heathenism.
I. THE ANTAGONISTS.
1. On the side of God.
(1) The Angel-God. The Logos. The "certainman" of ver. 5. The Lord Jesus.
The speakerthroughout (vers. 13, 20 - Daniel11:1).
(2) Michael. His name means, "Who is like unto God?" and implies that,
howeverhigh is the scale ofbeing, there is an infinite distance betweenhim
and God (see Daniel12:1; Jude 1:7; Revelation12:7). The following
propositions seemclearabout him: He is not the Logos;for he is here
distinguished from him. "One of the chief princes," one of the principal in the
hierarchy of heaven. "Your prince," the angelic representative and guardian

of the Jewishnation. "The greatprince who standeth for the children of thy
people." An archangel.
2. On the side of the world. The "princes" here named are the supernatural
powerstanding behind the daimoniae, who stoodbehind the national gods,
and were representedby them. They are spirits of evil, inspiring the worldly
anti-Divine actionof the greatempires of earth.
(1) The "Prince of Persia."
(2) The Prince of Javan; i.e. Greece.
II. THE WAR. The war was on behalf of Israel, and may be described as
being prosecutedthrough three supernatural campaigns. We considerthem
separately.
1. The first campaign. (Daniel 11:1.)
(1) The antagonist. Notmentioned here by name, but, following the analogyof
the restof the description, is certainly the celestial"Prince"ofBabylonia.
(2) The casus belli. The occasionofconflict. This, doubtless, was the necessity
of placing on the Babylonian throne one who would be favourable to the
return of Israelfrom the Captivity.
(3) Speciatlities.
(a) Michaelcarried on the war.
(b) The Christ supported him.
This order is reversedin the next campaign.
(4) The victory. Lies with the Divine in every case.
2. The secondcampaign. (Ver. 15.)
(1) The antagonist. "The Prince of Persia.'
(2) The casus belli. The obstruction raisedagainstthe restorationof the
temple, at the instigation of Israel's enemies.
(3) Specialities.
(a) This campaign was carriedon by the Angel-God himself.
(b) But aided by Michael. Here should be noted the doctrine that angels and
men may be co-workerstogetherwith God.
(c) Was synchronous with Daniel's prayer. All the way through the twenty-
one days the prayer was being answeredthrough a mighty conflict carried on
in a higher world.

(4) The victory. Speciallymentioned: "And I gained the superiority there by
the side of the kings of Persia."
3. The third campaign. (Vers. 20, 21.)
(1) The antagonists. The "princes" ofPersia and Javan.
(2) The casus belli. All that, in their worldliness, was attempted by Persia
afterwards, by Greece,by Alexander and his successors, especiallyAntiochus,
to the sore detriment of the Jewishpeople.
(3) A speciality. Only Michaelin this greatcontention was on the Christ-side.
Note:
(a) There is, then, liberty in heaven as on earth to do or not to do - to go forth
to war or to restin peace.
(b) Michaelmade a noble use of liberty.
(c) By endowment he toweredabove others "One of the chief princes."
(d) Therefore to him were greatresponsibilities entrusted. He was made the
guardian spirit of the Hebrew nation and Church. "To whom much is given"
etc., seems to be a law of all moral worlds. "Michaelyour prince. To a
subordinate spirit God will not entrust a work demanding specialpower and
greatness."
(4) The victory. Again not expresslymentioned, but sure. The following
deductions from the whole subject should, perhaps, have specialmention and
emphasis:
1. The Church has many and powerful enemies.
2. It abides under most powerful protection. What Michaelwas to Israelof
old, that, and more than that, is the Lord Jesus to Israel now; and he has
many helpers.
3. Its destiny is in conflict in the worlds above, as well as here below.
4. In the holy war here, the humblest may take a share. The Son of God
stoopedto avail himself of the help of Michael;so he ever stoops to acceptthe
humblest contribution, the lowliestservice.
"The Son of God goes forth to war,
A kingly crownto gain;
His blood-red banner streams afar;
Who follows in his train?" R.

Biblical Illustrator
And He strengthened me.
Daniel 10:18
Our Lord's humanity a source of comfort
We are not able, as yet, to bear the full revelation of divine things. We ought
to be thankful that our God has revealedno more. It appears that, when
weigheddown under a sense ofthe divine presence, the readiestmethod of
consolationis found in the touch of a certainsublime, mysterious, human
hand. Surely this glorious being was that uncreated messenger ofthe covenant
who, though not born into our nature in Daniel's day, yet took upon Himself
the similitude of man for a time, as He had done before when on special
occasions He appearedto others of the saints before His actual incarnation.
The Son of God is also the Son of Man. He is as truly man as if He were not
God, and as truly God as if He had never assumedthe nature of man. Show
how the touch of the hand of Jesus, the man, strengthens us.
I. IT CHEERS US WHEN WE LABOUR UNDER A SENSE OF
LONELINESS. Some feelalone because they are the only ones of their house
who serve the Lord. Well, there is a friend that stickethcloserthan a brother.
The child of God as he grows in grace becomes more lonely. But there are no
heights of attainment which Jesus has not surpassed. It falls to the lot of some
Christians to stand alone in their contentionfor the faith. In all our work He
is our companion.
II. IT IS SWEET TO FEELTHE TOUCH OF THE HUMANITY OF
CHRIST WHEN WE ARE HUMBLED IN THE PRESENCEOF GOD. A
blessedextinction of self makes room for infinite love. There is not one
covenantblessing but what, if we understood it, would have a humbling effect
upon us. At such times of self-annihilation it is strengthening to the mind to
feel the touch of that hand, and to perceive that He who is our God is also very
near to us.
III. IN SORROW,HOW BLESSED IT IS TO PEELTHE TOUCH OF THE
MAN'S HAND! Pain of body is the portion of many of God's people. They are
seldom long without it. Others endure the affliction of poverty. Some true
Christians are naturally of a sombre temperament. There is no abyss of grief
into which Jesus has not descended.
IV. THE FACT THAT JESUS IS A MAN, SUCH AS WE ARE, SHOULD
GREATLY COMFORT US IN ALL OUR STRUGGLES. It seems hard, this

Jesus was human

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