The humanity of Jesus

THE HUMANITY OF JESUS

Jn. 6:41-51

In the church, we have consistently emphasized the deity of Christ.  Throughout the centuries, we have worshipped Him, served Him, and preached about Him as the virgin-born Son of God. Our conviction has been that He is unique, fundamentally different from us.  History knows no one like Him, and never will.  He is God's special revelation of Himself.  To see Jesus is to see God; to know Jesus is to know God; to serve Jesus is to serve God.  The eternal God and the divine Son are so intertwined in our minds that separating one from the other seems impossible.

This focus on Christ's divinity is justified.  However, I wonder if this immersion in His deity has caused us to overlook another critical truth: His humanity.  We seem to have lost sight of the fact that Jesus was a real human being just like us.  We have become so convinced of His divine nature that we struggle to believe He was human like us, except that He never sinned.  In His time, the challenge was the opposite; His humanity was so apparent that many had difficulty believing He was the Christ.

Today's Gospel reading illustrates this.  Jesus declared Himself the bread of life come down from heaven, causing murmurs among the crowd.  They questioned, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?  Do we not know His father and mother?  How can He claim to have come down from heaven?"  These people, familiar with Jesus' humanity, were blind to His divinity.  We can learn from their error and avoid making the opposite mistake.  Recognizing His divinity is essential, but we must not lose sight of His humanity.

Jesus was a real man.  He started out as a little baby and grew into manhood.  He stood so many inches tall.  He weighed so many pounds.  His eyes were a certain colour.  His skin was a certain complexion.  He got hungry and wanted food, thirsty and wanted water.  He became lonely and needed His friends.  He grew tired and had to rest.  When His heart was broken, He cried.  When they stuck a spear in His side, He bled.  When they nailed him to a cross, He died.  Jesus was a real Person, God and Man.  Everything that He said and did happened within the context of a real human life.

This truth makes Him relatable and inspirational.  There's a bit of Him in each of us, and His life exemplifies what we can strive to be. The light in Him is a flickering candle in every human heart.  His example shows us what we can achieve.  Just as an unknown painter from southern France, upon seeing the masterpieces in the Louvre, felt a kinship with great artists, we too see in Christ the potential within us.

Christians of the early Church saw and understood themselves better through Jesus.  John, in his epistle, wrote, "Dearly beloved, we are God's children now; what we shall be later has not yet come to light. We know that when it comes to light, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."  This idea came from Jesus, revealing humanity at its highest and best.

Remembering Jesus' humanity challenges us to live as He lived.  His greatness and goodness are repeatable and can be reproduced in our lives.  He has shown us a path to follow, a foundation to build upon, an example to emulate.

The New Testament echoes this truth. Jesus, who said, "I am the light of the world," also said, "You are the light of the world. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

Lord Jesus, understanding the full truth about You includes both Your humanity and divinity.  You are beyond our reach, yet so much one of us that we can follow Your example. The people in our reading were offended by Your humanity; may we be inspired by it to live as You lived.Top of Form

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