Jesus: As Human As You

I want to talk about Jesus. In your opinion, was/is Jesus God, or was/is He human?

I believe Jesus is God. He has always existed as a Spirit. He did not begin to exist when He was born as a baby on earth. When He was born that's when He became human. 

So He is 100% God and has always been. And He is 100% human and has been so since He was born from a Virgin.

Why? Why was He born as a human?

So that we might get to know God. So that we may meet Him on a level playing field. Another human just like us. So that we might learn from Him, listen to Him, talk with Him, and witness His Divine power through His many miracles; including being raised Himself from the dead by God His Father.

But here's another question on which to ponder. As a human, did Jesus share the same feelings, emotions and other human attributes like us?

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you put him?” He asked.“Come and see, Lord,” they answered. Jesus wept. (John 11:35)

As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it and said, "If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes" (Luke 19:41)

Jesus was inside the boat, sleeping with his head on a pillow. The followers went and woke Him. They said, “Teacher, don’t you care about us? We are going to drown!” (Mark 4:38)

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with Him and His disciples. (Matthew 9:10)

Now He had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as He was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. (John 4:4-6)

In the passages above we read about Jesus weeping over the death of Lazarus, and over Jerusalem; we read about Him sleeping, eating with other people, and even feeling tired that He needed a rest. All human attributes that we would not associate with a Divine God.  

If you go to a Catholic church you will see on the wall the Stations of the Cross. The various scenes they depict are not Biblical. They just show in various images how Jesus, a human being, must have felt on the way to Calvary to be Crucified. In the Stations of the Cross we see Jesus falling three times, tired from the beatings He received and from carrying the heavy Cross. 

In all the scenarios I've mentioned we see Jesus experiencing human emotions.

Why? Why was it necessary for Jesus to feel and experience human emotions? As God, surely He could have lived amongst us as a God, and be totally unaffected by human emotions. Totally unaffected by our sorrows about someone's death. Totally unaffected by hunger, tiredness, and pain.

Why did He really need to experience all these things?

Because He wanted to share in our humanity. By sharing in the many things that we go through in life Jesus unifies Himself to us.

You know when someone is grieving about something, and you say, "I know how you feel!" You can't really know how they feel unless you too have experienced the loss of a loved one, experienced a divorce, experienced losing your job, experienced poverty, sickness or the many things that we associate with those less fortunate than ourselves.

Jesus has experienced all the emotions we go through in life. When He says,  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28), He knows precisely how we feel when life gets too much for us. When we are not only physically tired, but mentally and spiritually tired too. When we can't go on any more because we're going out of our mind with all the problems that surround us - personal problems, family problems, financial problems, relationships, or even the world's problems which are daily in the news media. 

Jesus knows how it feels when we're spiritually at a low level and our faith falters and we begin to doubt.

He too experienced this when praying in the Garden of Gethsemane when He uttered His agonizing prayer, “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.” (Matthew 26:39).

He experienced doubts when about the ninth hour He cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46).

Jesus knows exactly how it feels to be physically, mentally and emotionally tired. How it feels to be ill, in pain, without hope, without love, alone, and in despair.

That is why Jesus was 100% human. In order to experience how we feel in every aspect of our lives.

Remember that, next time you are feeling low and in need of His help.