Navigation: Index >> Previous >> Next

In examining the humanity of Jesus, it seems that actually we should be searching for ways in which He was like us.  However, the reverse is the challenge.  We should be searching for ways to emulate His life as a human being.  It is obvious that this is a demanding task.  We all realize that when we read the Beatitudes in Matthew 5. A complicating factor may make our task more difficult.  We may not be sure of our own humanity.  For example, how do we view spirit and soul?  Jesus had spirit and soul—so do we. These are constituent parts of His humanity and ours.  How does the Christian who desires to be like Jesus cope with his own spirit and soul? Admittedly, the question is a difficult one.  How can we appreciate more the place of spirit and soul in Jesus as a human being?

His Spiritual Nature Defined

First, we should think of spirit (pneuma) and soul (psuche) as nonmaterial.  In that sense they are both “spiritual.”  Therefore, both spirit and soul are of one essence, that is, spirit. Why, then, do we make the distinction? What is that distinction?  Sometimes it is difficult to discern between the two because of the seemingly interchangeable use of the two words.

We find that in the spirit (pneuma) rests our immortality.  Luke recorded that among the last words of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was this prayer: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59). When Jesus was dying on the cross, He said, “Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit” (Luke 23:46).  He was quoting Psalm 31:5, where the equivalent Hebrew word (ruach) is found. These examples reflect both the Old Testament and the New Testament view that “the spirit will return to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7b). We see, then, that one's spirit (pneuma) is the heightened, immortal part of his being.

On the other hand, there is the soul (psuche), which is also nonmaterial. However, the soul is not the heightened nature of man. It is the seat, or channel, of the human passions that we may call natural, or animal. Jude spoke of people who place priority on the animal, or natural, part of their being. He said: “These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly‑minded, devoid of the Spirit” (v. 19). Jude called the men psuchiko, “natural,” men. Since psuche is not flesh, we understand that Jude and other New Testament writers used this word to indicate the immaterial nature that had surrendered to the desires and appetites of the flesh (sarx).

Since the “flesh” is the mortal (natural, animal) part of man, it is not surprising that “warfare” rages between the immortal and mortal aspects of humankind. This is not to say that the natural part of human beings is, by its nature, evil: “Flesh and spirit are incompatible only when flesh forgets to trust in the God who is Spirit and trusts in itself” (Jer. 17:5ff; 2 Chr. 32:8).

Then, there is the body (soma).  Body is form.  It even applies to inanimate objects. Paul spoke of seeds as having bodies; he mentioned earthly bodies such as birds and fish; he spoke of heavenly bodies like the sun and stars (1 Corinthians 15:36-41). This term also applies to all living things. For example, James spoke of horses' bodies (3:3).

More to our concern is that soma also applies to our human bodies. Our body is the manifestation of our individuality. It is amazing that no set of fingerprints is like another. Our bodies testify to our existence as persons. As God's creatures, we live, move, and have our being in the bodies with which we are born. Our bodies are corporeal. As such, they are not immortal. However, while here on earth, they are the instruments through which we express our “being,” in the sense of existing, or living.

With all of this in mind, perhaps we may appreciate Paul's prayer for the Thessalonian Christians even more: “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit [pneuma] and soul [psuche] and body [soma] be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). In other words, Paul was praying that their entire spiritual, human, and physical natures would be kept blameless before God.

“Body” (soma) is not on the chart presented in lesson 8. That is because it is not actually “there.” The body is our form of being. It is the localized, individual instrument in which and through which all of the elements of the chart function in intimate relationship. In this way, we express our individual persons, or personalities.

His Spiritual Nature Exhibited

We have been considering our humanity in the context of spirit, soul, and body in order to understand and appreciate the humanity of Jesus. His humanity involved all of these features. Now we ask, “How did He show His spiritual nature as a human being?”

His Life of Prayer

We see this aspect of His life in at least two remarkable ways. First, we will consider His prayer life. It was astounding. God the Son was the Son of God both before and after the incarnation. Why, then, did God the Son pray to God the Father? God the Son was human too. He was as human in His humanity as He was divine in His deity!

We find in the KJV and RSV that Jesus “withdrew [himself] into the wilderness, and prayed” (Luke 5:16). The NIV catches the frequent, or repetitive, sense of the present participles and plural noun by translating: “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” He prayed alone on a mountainside in the evening before He walked on the water to join His disciples (Matthew 14:23). He prayed by Himself in the early morning darkness at Capernaum (Mark 1:35). He was on a mountainside all night in    prayer just before He chose His apostles (Luke 6:12). He was praying in private immediately before He asked His disciples who the crowd thought He was (Luke 9:18). He went up to the Mount of Transfiguration to pray (Luke 9:28-29). He prayed privately just before He gave a lesson on prayer to His disciples (Luke 11:1).

Why was all of this recorded by the Gospel writers?  Perhaps the fact that Jesus prayed often in private is a more profound testimony of His humanity than we have ever imagined.

We know, perhaps from personal experience, that human life without prayer is desolate and barren. The content of prayer will vary greatly. Prayer is a bedrock of stability for all who would pattern their lives after the praying Christ. Human life cannot expect to survive apart from God and the practice of prayer by which we express our love and adoration, dependence, gratitude, and pleas. Jesus entered into prayer to His heavenly Father constantly. He is our example.

When we are told the content of Jesus' prayers, we are moved to praise, rejoicing, thanksgiving, and tears. Pause to ponder the impact of Jesus' statement to Peter: “I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail” (Luke 22:32a). Although this is one of the unique statements in the Scriptures, it is sufficient to assure us that Jesus is interested enough in you and me to intercede for us in prayer, individually. What a marvelous manifestation of humanity expressing spirituality! In our prayers for others, we are placing their lives under the providence of God's grace, love, forgiveness, and strength. Jesus prayed to His Father for individuals, just as we do. Prayer is indeed a mark of true humanity expressing itself spiritually!

John 17 is the most extensive recorded prayer of Jesus.  It is extensive not only in length, but also in scope. He prayed for Himself, His disciples, and all those who would become believers through their message. Was He praying for all believers, as He did for Peter, “that your [our] faith may not fail”? (See Luke 22:31-32). Isn’t that our constant prayer for our comrades in Christ?

Much more could be, should be, and will be said about the prayer life of Jesus. His prayers in Gethsemane and on the cross display His humanity more vividly than any others.

His Death at Calvary

His struggles in Gethsemane were spiritual struggles.  It is easy to read Jesus’ Gethsemane experience as we might watch an educational program on TV. We may notice the props. We may appreciate the techniques of the presenters. We may even be influenced by their “acting” ability. Oh, yes, we see that there is a lesson to be learned, but we may not view it as being real. We may see it as merely a presentation. Was Jesus, the Master Teacher, just presenting another lesson in Gethsemane ? Was He simply trying to teach us that if we will take our troubles to God He will give us relief?  No! Before praying, Jesus said, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death.” As He prayed, He said, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me.”  In anguish, He prayed so earnestly that “His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.”  He also prayed, “Yet not as I will but as Thou wilt” (Matthew 26:36-45; Mark 14:32-40; Luke 22:39-46).

Jesus was not “acting” in the garden. His grief was real.  Jesus was engaged in the most difficult struggle of His life, the cross excepted. He was fighting the cosmic battle of good and evil. He was not fighting “impersonally,” abstractly.  This contest was focused on the person of Jesus, as a man, fighting against the devil! God the Father had centered His grand plan of redemption in the human Jesus. Would that plan be thwarted in Gethsemane ? Would Jesus yield to the temptation to forego “the cup”?

Unless we exert a strenuous mental self‑discipline as we review this dramatic scene, we will be diverted from the fundamental reason for Jesus' agony.

Something literally was hanging in the balance. A gigantic struggle was in progress. The humanity of Jesus did not turn into deity to give Jesus the advantage over Satan. God cannot be tempted by evil (James 1:13); human beings can. Jesus was tempted. He was human. He won the battle as a human being, the way we human beings win ours.  If we win, we do so by fervent prayer to the Father, trusting in His power and willingness to sustain us (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Jesus showed His true humanity in Gethsemane and on the cross. If we cherish His humanity as His Father did, we will not try to rob Him of it by insisting that He was victorious because He was God. His prayers were sincere.  The Father was with Him. He answered His prayers—not by removing “the cup,” but by strengthening Him so that Jesus could physically carry out the will of the Father (Luke 22:43). Therefore, Jesus could say with certainty, “The cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?” (John 18:11b).

Jesus won the skirmish against Satan when He was tempted in the wilderness.  He won a fierce battle in Gethsemane .  Paradoxically, He won His greatest victory at the cross.  As He Himself taught, “He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake shall find it” (Matthew 10:39).  Jesus was tempted to “find His life” in Gethsemane —but He refused.  Instead, He “lost” His life at the cross for our sakes.

“I beg you never to let that thought go. It is crucial for salvation. If Jesus was not truly a man, if His humanity was in some sense unreal, an appearance or a disguise, if the Figure in the Gospels was an unearthly, angelic visitant, a demigod in human shape, then the whole doctrine of redemption falls to the ground. Hold on to the full humanity of Jesus!”

The Culmination of Jesus’ Humanity

What was the culmination of Jesus' humanity?  We have suggested that the two greatest examples of Jesus as “fully man” were His life of prayer and His death at Calvary .  This is said because prayer that is worthy of the name and the seriousness with which we view death is evidence of the dependency and inadequacy of mere humanity.  In prayer we seek the will of One upon Whom we depend; in death we anticipate the life in Him that transcends mortality.

In the Scriptures, we hear Jesus praying and see Him dying on the cross. These experiences are convincing expressions of Jesus’ true humanity. He was not seizing an opportunity to teach us how to pray when He cried from the cross, “My God, My God, why has Thou forsaken Me?” (Mark 15:34). He was calling out from the depths of emotional agony and physical suffering so profound that you and I cannot comprehend it. We cannot comprehend it because we have never been there, never will be there—cannot be there. We have never been the Creator Who Himself became a creature. We have never been deity Who emptied Himself of that glory to become a man. You and I may live noble lives and die painful deaths, but we will never live sinless lives, and we will never offer ourselves as perfect sacrifices. No other will be left as Jesus was, hanging on a cross in utter loneliness and excruciating torment.

Not only did Jesus live the most completely exemplary life that was ever lived (Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22), but He also died the most completely ignominious death that anyone ever died (2 Corinthians 5:21). It took the most exalted experiences of living and the most extreme experience of dying for Jesus, as a man, to accomplish His mission. He did not come to earth merely to set an example for us to follow (1 Peter 2:21).  Neither did He come merely to teach wonderful words of life (John 6:63).  John wrote, “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him” (John 3:17).

His mission required more than being born, living, and dying. To accomplish His mission, His birth had to be unique, His life had to be flawless, and His death had to be extremely real. In all aspects of His life on Earth, Jesus radiated a human nature superior to that of any other human being who ever lived. He was perfect—not because He was “half‑God,” but because He was truly human and still lived without spot or blemish.  Jesus was the single instance in all history of a man who lived not only a superior life but also a sinless life—from birth through death.

His Death

How was this singularly pure and peaceful Jesus to accomplish His mission to save the lost? That was the crux of Gethsemane . He had willed that His Father's will be done: “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all (1 Timothy 2:5-6a). Jesus had said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

Why sacrifice such a pure and endearing Person—and why must the death be so severe, so extreme?  Because of the exalted holiness of God.  Because of His immutability and absolute justice.  His holiness abhors sin; His justice requires that every sin be punished. There are no loopholes. God is not like an indulgent parent who waves aside the misdeeds of his children on the principle of love and tolerance.  On the contrary, we are told that from of old “every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense” (Hebrews 2:2b); and, “Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses” (Hebrews 10:28). In the New Testament, we are told that “it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).  Sin is serious; it is fatal if not forgiven.

Nothing short of the total sacrifice of the impeccable Christ for our sins could have fulfilled the justice required by an absolutely holy God. Therefore, the Son of God, who willingly gave Himself completely to the will of God, His Father, paid the ransom. His body and blood (His very life) provided a sacrifice of such immeasurable worth that all the requirements of God's justice were fulfilled. This leaves the Father in complete harmony with His total Being when He forgives those who accept this gift. “Mercy triumphs over judgment!” (James 2:13b).

As Jesus was dying, He said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing”; “It is finished!”; “Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit” (Luke 23:34; John 19:30; Luke 23:46).  “It is finished!!”  It is perhaps impossible for the human mind to grasp fully the significance of those words.  Jesus knew, however; and in spite of the horrible death pangs He suffered, He died serenely.  There remained now the journey home to His Father, starting with His resurrection from a borrowed tomb.  His humanity had been extended to its limits.  His very birth was glorious (Luke 2:6-7, 13-14).  His life was supremely pure.  Paradoxically, His death was His triumph.  He had come to do the Father’s will (John 6:38), and He had done it!