Topic three: Jesus Christ-Why his humanity? (Part 1)
His humanity allowed him to know by experience the full range of human emotion and how those emotions impacted his life. He worked for a living as a carpenter after his apprenticeship with Joseph, his earthly father. He knew full well what blood, sweat, and tears meant as part of a family.
The Bible tells us that Jesus was given human names. (Matthew 1:21; Luke 19:10; Acts 7:55, 56) He was known to his family and friends as the son of Joseph and Mary. He had brothers and sisters also. In his home town, they knew his ancestry and family that he came from. (Matthew 1:16; Luke 2:2-7) Because of the Governor’s tax, his parents were in Bethlehem where he was born.
Because of his humanity, Jesus possessed a physical nature. (Luke 2:21; Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 4:2,3) Because of his physical nature, Jesus was subject to the laws of human development. (Matthew 4:1-11; Mark. 6:3; Luke 2:40,46,52; Hebrews. 2:18; 5:8). He experienced things as a child and as he became a young man. He learned obedience and the intricacies of sibling relationships. As the oldest of Mary’s children, he became responsible for the care of his mother, brothers, and sisters after Joseph his earthly father’s death.
Topic three: Jesus Christ-Why his humanity? (Part 2)
To answer the question of “Why Jesus’ humanity” we need to see this thread throughout the Old Testament that told again and again that a man would come “the messiah” which would save mankind from their sins by his sacrifice. All of the Old Testament sacrificial system was put in place to point toward what God required for the remission of sin-the perfect sacrifice. Jesus Christ was that perfect sacrifice sent by God for the remission of sin. Jesus, in his humanity, fulfilled this requirement.
Jesus said in Matthew 26:28 “for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Mark 14:24 repeats this same statement. This tells us why Jesus came.
Many have questioned the humanness of Jesus. Read Acts 17:31 and 1 Timothy 2:5 for scriptures that attest to Jesus being human. Jesus had a body and there are two verses that testify to this: John 1:14 and Hebrews 2:14. Jesus had a soul by his statement in the garden before he was arrested (Matthew 26:38). On the cross, Jesus cried with a loud voice, “he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. (Luke 23:46) This tells us that Jesus had a spirit also. These things mentioned are all evidence that Jesus was very much a man and very human.
Topic three: Jesus Christ-Why his humanity? (Part 3)
In the following statements from scripture, we will see words recorded that show how human Jesus was. He was subject to normal human characteristics.
He hungered (Mt. 4:2; 21:18). He thirsted (Jn. 4:7). He became weary (Jn. 4:6).
He slept (Mt. 8:24). He prayed (Mt. 14:23). He had compassion and love (Mt. 9:36; 23:37; Mk. 10:21).
He wept (Jn. 11:35; Luke. 19:41; He. 5:7). He was sorrowful (Mt. 26:36-42).
He was angry and grieved (Mk. 3:4; Jn. 2:16). He trusted (He. 5:7)
The foregoing phrases and scriptures give us a picture of Jesus being very human. He had to experience these human conditions to know exactly what we also experience. He had to take care of his bodily needs of eating and satisfying his thirst. He had to give his body rest. He needed to be reassured mentally and spiritually through prayer with His Father. He had compassion on people around him and their need for learning and reassurance. He wept for his friends and expressed sorrow for those sick and lame. He was angry with the Jewish leaders for their false teaching and perversion of God’s word. He trusted one of his own inner circle who betrayed him. Jesus experienced the full range of human need and emotion just as we do. He was very human but he did not sin by all that he experienced.
Topic three: Jesus Christ-Why his humanity? (Part 4)
Let us look at some more reasons why Jesus was clothed in human flesh. We will review at least four more reasons why Jesus’ humanity was necessary. Each of these will be supported by at least one verse of scripture.
First, his humanity allowed him to experience the full physical reality of being human. We have seen in our previous post that he experienced human characteristics and needs. He also experienced something that pushed his humanness to the extreme limit. We see what he experienced at the point of death in this verse: “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.” (Luke 23:46) He experienced the horrible pain of death by Roman crucifixion.
Second, his humanity allowed him to experience the full mental state of being human. He went with his disciples to pray in the Garden at Gethsemane before going to the cross. Matthew 26:38 relates to us his mental state. “Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.” In those moments he was under extreme mental pressure as he faced death on a Roman cross the next day.
Third, through his humanity, he was able to understand what being human entailed. After his resurrection, he said to his disciples “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” (Luke 24:39) Jesus knew by his first hand experience what a person would suffer under persecution, unjust charges, and punishment even to death. Even so, he was able to show the disciples what he had experienced.
And lastly, Jesus by his humanity became our sin-bearer to do what we could not do. Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles, writes the following to the Roman believers: “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:..” (Romans 8:3) We see this same thought again by the writer of Hebrews in Hebrews 9:22, “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.” The holiness of Almighty God requires that sin be purged by blood. Jesus did this by his crucifixion. What Jesus did on the cross paved the way for us, sinful humans, to be able to enter into the presence of a Holy God.
