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Introduction

The things that Jesus said and did in His relationships with others during His public ministry convinced great multitudes of His exalted humanity.  As we turn to an examination of Jesus’ “private” life, we will accomplish two things. First, we will see further reasons why Jesus' contemporaries viewed Him as truly human. Second, we will consider facts that will help us to focus our perspective on Jesus' humanity.  They were persuaded He was a man.  Are we also persuaded or are we inadvertently or subconsciously “docetic”?  For example: Do we think Jesus successfully resisted temptation as a man or do we think He had an advantage we do not have because He was God?

Jesus’ Physical Aspect

Jesus was as one of us!  What does it mean to be human?  The answer to that question ranges far and wide in this age.  Therefore, we must proceed carefully.  Using the Bible as our guide, we refer you to the chart “Our Human Components” so the parameters of our question will be before us in this study.

In modern times the advanced social sciences, especially psychology, have at last arrived at the holistic concept of personhood reflected in the Bible.  The pluralistic picture of what we are as human beings is illustrated vividly by the classical Hebrew word nephesh. This word is so comprehensive that it is translated in over 150 ways in the NIV.  This is in sharp contrast to the ancient dualistic view of humankind found in Greek philosophy.  The comprehensive view suggested in the chart is what we are looking at when we study the lives of human beings, including the human life of Jesus.

Jesus’ Body

Jesus arrived in the world with a human body.  His appearance was not startling. He had all the physical traits one would expect to find in a healthy baby boy.  His birth was expected, as all births are expected, after about nine months of pregnancy.  He was gladly received and nurtured. On the eighth day after His birth He was circumcised and named Jesus.  His human body grew strong as the years passed.  He grew in height.  He matured into a well‑adjusted full‑grown man.  At about the age of thirty, Jesus submitted His body to His relative John for baptism in the Jordan River (Luke 2:4-7, 21, 40, 51-52; 3:23; Matthew 3:13-15).

During His personal ministry, Jesus showed that His body was subject to physical influences that are common to all of us.  He grew weary and thirsty.  Obviously, most of Jesus' travels were on foot.  On one such journey He grew tired and wanted a drink of water.  It was high noon when He came to Jacob's well in the village of Sychar in Samaria .  Jesus stopped to rest and waited for water.  At last a woman of the village came to draw water.  Since the Samaritans knew that Jews considered them unclean, she was surprised when Jesus said, “Give me a drink” (John 4:7).

Although mentioned only in John, this incident in the life of Jesus is familiar because of the marvelous teaching Jesus shared with the woman and the Samaritans of the village.  The entire episode is even more enriching as we stand with the Samaritans and hear this man, who came to them tired and thirsty, teaching in such a way that we begin to see Him as a prophet or perhaps the Messiah.  It dawns upon us that even His name, Yeshua (the Hebrew word for Jesus: Savior) means something wonderful to us, just as Yehoshua (the Hebrew word for Joshua: God saves) had meant to the Hebrews in the long ago (John 4:4‑42).

Two unpleasant commonalities among members of the human family are agony and death.  As members of God's family, the church, we are assured that we will have suffering to endure if we are faithful.  Also, we are told that death is an appointment we will miss only if the Lord returns first (Hebrews 9:27).

When we read God's Word, we find that Jesus was not exempted from these two experiences.  A close reading shows that He stands at the forefront of all those who experience these two marks of humanity.  Biologically speaking, His agony was so great in the Garden of Gethsemane that the sweat of His body was like great drops of blood falling to the ground.  What anguish!  (See 1 Peter 4:12-16; Luke 22:44).

Jesus' death on the cross is, of course, the great watershed of human history.  This event, with the subsequent resurrection, is the decisive event upon which our ultimate destiny is based.  We acknowledge the centrality of the cross by our use of B.C. and A.D.  It sweeps across all eras of time, both before and after the event.  Jesus' death on the cross is the starkest evidence of His humanity.  After He died, His corpse was removed from the cross, hastily prepared for burial, and placed in a tomb (Matthew 27:50; John 19:28, 30; Luke 23:46, 50-53).

Jesus’ Emotions

Jesus expressed emotions to which we may relate.  Since we are human and He was human, this ready relationship comes as no surprise.  It would only be surprising if He were not human.  However, it is easy to read over these evidences of His humanity as we search for some particular teaching or example of His deity. Let us consider the following examples of the emotional expressions of Jesus as a man.  We will be drawn closer to Him.

His Love

We note love first because it is first.  True love is the highest expression of the human spirit.  It shows that the human creature is a being made in the likeness of God, who is love. The deepest expression of our capacity to love places us at the pinnacle of God's created life forms.  Without this capacity, we would not be fully human.

On one occasion a rich man approached Jesus with some questions about eternal life.  Since this was exactly what Jesus came to offer, we may readily appreciate His willingness to engage the man in conversation.  The key to the entire enlightening exchange is found in the statement: “And looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him" (Mark 10:21a; see also 1 John 4:8; John 11:5).

During the Galilean ministry of Jesus, He selected twelve men as apostles.  From that time, the teaching and training of these men were important parts of His work.  It was a challenging process.  He displayed an amazing patience with them as He nurtured, disciplined, enlightened, and rebuked them.  As He drew near the end of the timetable He was following in His work, the Scriptures tell us, the ultimate reason He was able to mold the lives of eleven men so that they could proclaim the saving message even to the point of martyrdom.  When that last eventful Passover was at hand, John wrote of Jesus: “Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love” (John 13:1b, NIV).

What was the full extent of Jesus’ love?  We spoke earlier of His agony in Gethsemane and His death on the cross.  It was agony.  It was also the foremost display of love by the One Who “so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son . . .” (John 3:16; emphasis added).  The death of Jesus “showed them the full extent of his love.”  Jesus’ death on the cross was the greatest expression of human love that the world will ever know, because it was the perfect pattern of the love of God the Father made visible for all to see.

When perfect love abounds, there is every reason for joy.  Jesus spoke of love and joy together.  To the chosen apostles He said, “I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.  This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you” (John 15:9-12); Jesus expressed love and joy in His life.  He did more than that.  He gave love and joy their ultimate meanings.

His Compassion

Compassion is one of the most endearing human qualities.  It is a sign of our ability to project our humanness outside ourselves.  Compassion is one of the building blocks in developing meaningful relationships.  Jesus stressed the crucial role of compassion in our lives and how it says much about our service to Him.  He spoke of feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, showing hospitality to strangers, providing clothes for the naked, and visiting those who are in prison.  Such acts, Jesus said, would be service to Him.  On the other hand, Jesus said that those who had hardened hearts would come to a bad end (Matthew 25:34-46).

A hallmark of Jesus' personal ministry was compassion.  He looked upon a man with leprosy and had compassion on him.  He saw a large crowd containing many sick people, and He had compassion on them.  He saw other crowds filled with the harassed, helpless, and wandering, and He had compassion on them.  It would be difficult to imagine His ministry without compassion.

Compassion is defined as “spiritual consciousness of the personal tragedy of another or others and selfless tenderness directed toward it.”  Have you ever driven by a bedraggled person standing on the roadside holding up a crudely lettered cardboard sign that read: “Will work for food”?  When we see on TV news the picture of a hysterical mother clutching the body of her bloody, lifeless child—killed by the inhuman, senseless slaughter of warfare, we are “moved with pity.”  We “feel sorry” for those in misery because we are human.  Jesus had these human emotions as well, but He went further.  He elevated such feelings to the highest level.  He alleviated the misery and suffering of others.  His humanness was spelled out in His humaneness (Mark 1:40-41; 6:34; Matthew 9:36; 14:14).

His Anger

Paradoxically, the compassion of Jesus is seen side by side with His anger.  His anger was not directed against those who belittled, insulted, or injured Him.  It targeted those whose hearts were so void of compassion that they could not tolerate His helping the handicapped when it seemed that He was violating a religious law.  For example, while in a synagogue on the Sabbath, He noticed a man with a shriveled hand.  Jesus told the man to stand before the audience, then asked them, in effect, if it would be acceptable to heal the man on the Sabbath. When they refused to answer, He looked at them “with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart …” (Mark 3:1‑6).  He was angry at those whose religious conviction left no place for compassion.  They were wrong.  He was right. They had hard hearts.  He had compassion.

His Curiosity

Some of the most decisive evidence for the true humanity of Jesus is seen in His show of curiosity.  We reject the position that the humanity of Jesus was “impersonal”—that is, abstract, not personal.  Those who advocate this view seem disturbed by the implied limitations in Jesus' life, such as curiosity.  Surely all must agree that to be truly human is to be limited.  To deprive Jesus of this trait would be to deny, or limit, His true humanity.

Curiosity moves through the whole spectrum of life.  “What's for lunch?” is a casual form of curiosity.  “What is the meaning of life?” is a profound question.  It seems that the record of Jesus' curiosity concerning what we may call “insignificant details” is a conscious effort by the writers of the Gospels to remind us that He was indeed human.

On one occasion, Jesus fed five thousand men, plus women and children. Before He fed them, He asked, “How many loaves do you have? Go look!” (See Mark 6:35-38)  Why did He ask this question?  Did He want to impress the apostles?  If so, He could have said, “Go among the crowd, and you will find five loaves of bread and two fish.  Bring them to Me.”  Was it to impress the crowd?  There is no indication the crowd heard the question put to the apostles.  Why did He ask the question?  He was human.  Why “spiritualize” what the writer was trying to “humanize”?

One of the most astonishing questions from Jesus' lips was addressed to Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. Lazarus had died and was buried. Jesus, Who was away from their home at Bethany at the time, was notified of Lazarus’s illness before he died.  Jesus remained where He was for two days.  Then He told His disciples that Lazarus had died.  They all returned to Bethany .  Even before Jesus arrived at her house, Martha went out to meet Him and was comforted.  She then went to Mary and told her that Jesus had arrived and wanted to see her.

When Jesus saw her grief and also that of the others with her, He was deeply moved.  He then asked, “Where have you laid him?” (John 11:34).  As He came to the tomb, we are told that “Jesus wept” (John 11:35).  What compassion!  What love!  What empathy!  What humanity!  It has been said of this passage that “the evangelist describes his [Jesus’] sorrow in the tenderest description of his human nature to be found in all the Gospels, ‘Jesus wept.’”  To this we can say, “Amen!”  Not least among the shining clues of His humanity within this precious passage, however, is the innocent and childlike query: “Where have you laid him?” (John 11:1-36).

Jesus exhibited that He was truly human in His body and emotions.  There was nothing “impersonal” about the humanity of Jesus.  His manhood was not a clever facade.  It was as real and true as His deity.