The Humanity of Jesus

Acts 10:36-43

As Peter preaches to those who were assembled in Cornelius’ house, he brings Jesus to the forefront, as everyone who preaches the Gospel should.

Jesus is the Son of God, and we know this from repeated usage of that phrase in dozens of places throughout the New Testament. John 3:16 tells us that He is the “only begotten Son” of God. He is the Word that became flesh (John 1:14) and He is the Righteous Judge of all men, a title that only God is worthy to hold.

However, Jesus of Nazareth was a man. In fact, over 80 times in just the Gospels, He refers to Himself as the “Son of man.” This title is important because it concretes the truth that He was truly a man, in every single way that each of us are.

Nobody knows what Jesus looked like. Some early sources describe Him as the perfect man: tall, dark, and handsome with piercing eyes and well-groomed. Others, citing Isaiah 53:2, assert that He was not a very good-looking individual, maybe even somewhat ordinary or homely. He was probably not the strongest man or the most skilled in the arts. Samson may have been able to best Him in arm-wrestling and David may have beat Him in a harp-playing contest. But Jesus did not come with physical skills to be exploited or exhibited. He came as a man so He could live like a man so He could finish the job that Adam failed to complete: to live a sinless life in accordance with the will and commands of the Father.

In this passage we are reading from today, there are 4 occurrences mentioned that show us that Jesus was a man just like us. This cannot and will not be a full study on the nature of Jesus’ humanity, but I want to show you that because Jesus was like us, we can be like Him.

ANOINTED: God anointed Jesus (v. 38)

In Hebrew, the word that is translated into English as “anointed one” is Mashiach: Messiah

this refers to anyone who was chosen by God for a purpose

example: King Saul (1 Samuel 26:9-11)

Jesus was anointed by God with the Holy Spirit and with power

but so were we as believers and adopted sons

2 Corinthians 1:21–22 ESV

21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

this was made evident when Jesus was baptized by John in Galilee and the Spirit descended from Heaven like a dove and the voice of God proclaimed “this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased”

the same spirit descended on the disciples in the upper room on the day of Pentecost, and it is on all of us who believe

2 Peter 1:3–4 KJV 1900

3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

in this letter, Peter attributes the power that is given to Christians as coming from Jesus, and Jesus Himself attributes His power as coming from the Father.

it is appropriate and accurate to say that both Jesus and we receive power to do all things from the Father, who is is the source of all power

ACCOMPANIED: God was with Jesus (v. 38)

notice carefully what Peter says here about how and why Jesus “went about doing good and healing”

it was because “God was with him.”

not “because He was the Son of God,” nor was it “because He is God”

although both of those statements are true - He is both God and the son of God - it was Jesus the Man, empowered by God the Father through God the Holy Spirit, that did these wonderful works and miracles

all of the miracles and good things that Jesus did came AFTER the Holy Spirit came upon Him at His baptism

this is not to say He was a vulgar (common) man prior to the baptism, for He was fully God even then

but the power that He received was given to Him because God was with Him

in this same manner, the apostles - and later, other believers - were given the same power as Jesus to do good, healing those who were oppressed by the devil, etc.

Jesus Christ did not do these works by His own power, but by the power of God, and then He was able and was commissioned to delegate His power to those who call upon His name

Before He was baptized by water and the Spirit, He was a righteous man. Before He was a man, He was a righteous youth. Before He was a youth, He was a righteous child.

He lived His entire life up to this point without sin

He did not have the power to do miracles, and He had not yet begun to gather disciples, because His time had not yet come.

but from a child, He was raised to know the Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:15) as Timothy was

He loved and obeyed the Father unquestioningly, and without fail

like Adam, He was commissioned by God to live righteously. Unlike Adam, Jesus completed His task all the way through the crucifixion, both before and after He received the power of the Holy Spirit

ARISEN: God raised Jesus (v. 40)

In Romans 6:4, it is said, that Christ “was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father;” so also in Acts 2:24, “Whom God hath raised up.” In Acts 13:30, it is said, “God raised him from the dead.” So in Ephesians 1:19, 20, we are told that sinners are converted by the same mighty power “which wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead.”

Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, vol. 2 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 629.

Jesus does in passages such as John 2:19 and John 10:17,18 say that He lays down His own life and has the power to raise it up again, but we understand that this power is once again one that is delegated to Him by the Father

in Romans 8:10, 11, Paul explicitly states that it is the Spirit of God that both raised Jesus and will raise us again in like manner

Romans 8:10–11 “10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

we, too, will be resurrected both in spirit and in flesh, just as Jesus was. And it is by the same power that He was: the Spirit of God

APPOINTED: God appointed Jesus

in this last statement, Peter says that Jesus was appointed by God to be the judge of the living and the dead

in this way, of course, we have nothing in common with Jesus, for we have not been appointed the judge of anyone

the important thing to note, then, is that Jesus must be appointed by the Father; He did not assume this authority for Himself

Jesus Himself stated this in John 5:22 “For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,”

in John 8:16 Jesus also says the judgement is reserved for He and the Father together

I stand here today and say without any reservation or irony that Jesus Christ of Nazareth was and is God Incarnate. None of this diminishes His divine nature and essence, for to do so would be a heresy of the highest sort.

But these 4 truths about Jesus show us one very important truth about ourselves: that we have been given the same power of the Holy Spirit from the Father that Jesus was given.

Although Jesus was and is the Son of God, He came as the son of man, a real person with real humanity. He bore all the affects of sin, yet remained sinless. He kept the law of God.

If Jesus kept the commandments of God BEFORE the outpouring of the Spirit, can we not keep the commandments of God AFTER the Spirit has come upon us? We have received the same Spirit and the same Baptism so let us have the same Righteousness. This is, of course, not achieved through our own efforts, but by trusting in Him who is righteousness. Then, and only then, can we say and do what Paul says in Philippians 4:13

Philippians 4:13 KJV 1900

13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

He was ANOINTED, ACCOMPANIED, ARISEN, APPOINTED by God.