This Sunday in Christus, we are looking at "Mere Man, Absolute God." I thought I’d make a few observations about His humanity.
- Jesus had to have his diaper changed.
- Jesus cried before John 11:35.
- Jesus played like the rest of the kids in the neighborhood.
- Jesus’ voice changed when He hit puberty.
- Jesus went to school and had homework.
- Jesus got left behind.
- Jesus did not have blow dryed hair.
- Jesus did not have a halo.
- Jesus was tempted.
- Jesus was sarcastic and had a sense of humor.
- Jesus was concerned for the welfare of His mom.
- Jesus was not a hippy protester.
- Jesus had a temper.
- Jesus had a sense of dramatic timing.
- Jesus experienced anxiety.
- Jesus bled, anticipated the sting of every lash, was pinned to the cross, and writhed in agony as he staved off affixiation.
- The body of Jesus rotted and decomposed in a grave for three days.
Jesus was human, experiencing a full range of emotion, pain, friendship, love, loss, and all 5 senses.
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Pardon me but doesn’t your last point run against the scripture
Psa 16:10 For Thou dost not leave my soul to Sheol, Nor givest thy saintly one to see corruption.
…in the Jewish Midrash, the hebrew is a bit clearer….
” “no worm or maggot should have power over him;”
which is not true of David, nor of any but the Messiah.”
[after Gill.]
Or am I just being a bit naive and picky.
I do agree with you other points about Jesus’ humanity which, for me, strengthens the understanding that He was ‘tempted in all points’
Cheers Bro - Keep on stirring!
Dave, I am open to your understanding. In the end, I don’t know for certain. But, I have a guess.
I see a few things that lead me to believe that He was dead and began to decay up until the moment He was resurrected.
Peter referenced the Psalmist and pointed out that His soul “was not left in hades” and “his flesh did not see corruption.” He was not left in hades tells me His death was not permanent. Decay is synonymous with death. Both were temporary.
If you go to Psalms the word “corruption” is interpretation of the Hebrew transliteration “shachat.” It leaves me with the understanding that after the resurrection, Jesus was alive and recognized to be without decay. This fulfills the prophecy in Psalms 16:10.
But, it does not gurantee that his body did not decay. The fact that he actually died, his organs quit functioning, and blood quit flowing would lead me to the conclusion that his body began to physically decay outside of a supernatural protection from outside of Christ via God the Father. The Father did not spare Him from death. Previously, the Father had not spared Him from life. Why would He be spared from three days worth of decay?
Also, when He was cut with whips, nails, thorns, by a plucked out beard, did that blood dry? Did it have a life of its own able to function outside of the Body of Christ without manifesting decay? It seems to me that if we believe that Jesus had dual natures, both fully God and fully man then, the man Christ Jesus could die and His body would decay prior to resurrection.
In all honesty, my thoughts aren’t fully formed there. But, that is where I draw my conclusion. I believe it still reconciles with the prophecy in Psalms.
OK - I hear you there, but the Word specifically says that the ‘Holy One won’t see corruption’ the implication being no decay. Peter stresses this in Acts 13 in his comparison of David with Jesus.
We know that Lazarus was 4 days in the tomb and a Stinker! Jesus / The Father’s power was more than sufficient to do the deed and reverse the advanced decomposition in raising him to life. But Jesus wasn’t ordinary like Lazarus.
I prefer to see it that for Jesus’ dead, physical body that the Lord suspended normality for the 2′ish days that Jesus was in the tomb and not even the normative processes of decay dared to proceed against the express decree of God that ‘His Holy One would not see corruption’ [decay/decomposition]! It’s dead easy [sic] for a God that can stop the sun and earth in their tracks!
I reckon there’s a lot of stuff in and between the physical, supernatural and divine realms that we won’t get to the bottom of till glory … eh Bro!??
But till then - God says….
Dave,
You may very well be right. Could God have suspended the effects of humanity? Absolutely. Would that diminish the fact that Christ was fully human? No.
Since, no one saw the body of Jesus in the tomb after it was sealed, we don’t know having heard from an eyewitness. So, I have to base my understanding on Scripture and science. And, as you pointed out, God’s acts often supercede science. I have no problem believing that’s what happened.
But, surrounding the passage where Christ would not be left in Hades, we see that his body would not see corruption. In that context, that prophecy would seem to me that his body would not end in decay.
Either way, it is a non-essential and has no bearing on my realization of who Christ is. The prophecy is still fulfilled, Jesus is resurrected and has ascended, and He is sill making intercession for me.
You’ve given me something to chew on. You may have a better take on that than me. Really good thoughts.
Cheers Mate!
Catch you later….
God is Good!!!
It is a very rich train of thought to really consider our Lord’s humanity. We are tempted to make him bland. I thank you for opening the door into considering more and more of his humanity. This post makes for good thinking and a real Jesus.