The Humanity of Jesus

Intro:

Good morning everyone, it is great to see you today and good to be back.

I want to thank Jake again for preaching last week. If you were not here and have not listened to his sermon, please do so this week.

I shared with Jake this week after I listened, that it was obvious that he spent a lot of time studying, but more importantly, it was obvious that he was allowing the Holy Spirit speaks through him while up here.

That is not as simple as it may seem.

There is a lot of pressure when standing before a church, and it is easy to fall back on your own abilities rather than waiting for God to do the work.

Jake preached on the two verses previous to the ones we will cover today and the message was that death has been defeated.

Not only did Jesus defeat death, but Jesus went through the same struggles that we do.

“Christ dealt with everything we have dealt with. Take any modern example and you can reduce it down to a shared human experience.”

That idea comes out of verse 14 and we are going to see the author repeat that same idea in verse 17 in our text today.

Jake also pointed out that Jesus destroyed death - he rendered it completely powerless.

Me

As you all know, it was significant that Jake preached last week for several reasons.

The first reason is that I had to work out of town that week and would not have time to prepare like I normally do.

Second, He had never preached before.

Third, and the one that I want to place the most emphasis on today is that he has a newborn.

Jake took on extra responsibility during the most chaotic time his life has ever had.

He sacrificed his time so that I could take care of work.

Now, it may seem easy to blow that off, but it is a significant part of what it means to be in the body of Christ.

We

All of us have experienced others sacrificing on our behalf.

God has called us to live in community with one another and that often manifests itself in giving of our time and resources in order to help those we love.

This is a significant marker in the lives of believers and it set the early church apart from the rest of the culture.

Acts 2:41–47 CSB

41 So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them. 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. 44 Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. 45 They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

When we invite others into our life groups or purposefully invest in their lives, they begin to experience what the early church was experiencing.

Meals when new babies or foster children arrive.

Wedding and baby showers.

Helping clean up before and after LG

Helping recover from natural disasters.

and the list can go on and on.

This lifestyle of choosing to live sacrificially is part of the DNA of a healthy church and relationship with God.

We know this because we see not only the church responding this way, but it is how Jesus lived and died for his people.

Look with me at our scripture for today.

God

Hebrews 2:16–18 ESV

16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Death was not defeated for Himself or the angels, but for you and I.

God did not send Jesus for his own benefit and the angels didn’t need a savior.

We did.

No one benefited from Jesus giving up heaven to join our suffering except for us.

In order to accomplish this goal, Jesus had to become like us.

Hebrews Contemporary Significance

Angels watched as Mary changed God’s diaper. The universe watched with wonder as The Almighty learned to walk. Children played in the street with him. And had the synagogue leader in Nazareth known who was listening to his sermons.…

Jesus may have had pimples. He may have been tone-deaf. Perhaps a girl down the street had a crush on him or vice-versa. It could be that his knees were bony. One thing’s for sure: He was, while completely divine, completely human.

For thirty-three years he would feel everything you and I have ever felt. He felt weak. He grew weary. He was afraid of failure. He was susceptible to wooing women. He got colds, burped, and had body odor. His feelings got hurt. His feet got tired. And his head ached.

To think of Jesus in such a light is—well, it seems almost irreverent, doesn’t it? It’s not something we like to do; it’s uncomfortable. It is much easier to keep the humanity out of the incarnation. Clean the manure from around the manger. Wipe the sweat out of his eyes. Pretend he never snored or blew his nose or hit his thumb with a hammer.19

Jesus experienced life just as we do and because of that…

John Wesley is my homeboy.

We will talk more about this next week, but part of the reason that he became like us is so that he could be a merciful and faithful high priest.

Jesus perfectly understands what it means to be human.

The total sum of our lives is a collection of experiences.

When we are struggling, we can have confidence in the fact that Jesus knows exactly how we feel.

John 16:19–24 CSB

19 Jesus knew they wanted to ask him, and so he said to them, “Are you asking one another about what I said, ‘In a little while, you will not see me; again in a little while, you will see me’? 20 Truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. 21 When a woman is in labor, she has pain because her time has come. But when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the suffering because of the joy that a person has been born into the world. 22 So you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again. Your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy from you. 23 “In that day you will not ask me anything. Truly I tell you, anything you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. 24 Until now you have asked for nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

Jesus is telling his disciples that sorrow is coming but, how they choose to respond will change the outcome of that experience.

John 16:31–33 CSB

31 Jesus responded to them, “Do you now believe? 32 Indeed, an hour is coming, and has come, when each of you will be scattered to his own home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. 33 I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”

Jesus is being a good friend here. - He is telling them what they need to hear instead of what they want to hear.

He is being honest with them.

There is going to be sorrow in this world because it is broken and sinful.

Rather than glossing over the problem so that it doesn’t seem so bad, he tells them the truth of the problem, but also that he has dealt with it.

Jesus has conquered the problems that the world gives us by defeating death.

We will dig a little deeper into this next week when we talk about Jesus being the perfect High Priest.

Last week Jake ended his message with the idea that if Jesus was willing to give up his throne, humble himself to become like his creation, and then suffer the worst possible death so that I wouldn’t have to, that is the kind of God I want to tell others about.

Have you ever thought about the dichotomy of sacrifice and joy?

Follow me with this.

If I choose to sacrifice in order to serve someone else, what does that do for the other person?

It gives them joy!

And you know what else, it brings you joy too.

You

Understanding the full humanity of Jesus changes the way we see life in this world.

If our goal is to be made progressively into his likeness, then how we react to the sorrow we experience is going to change.

Our focus is going to shift from ourselves to others and by choosing to sacrifice for others, you are bringing them the joy of Christ.

This is not something we put on, but rather, something that happens as we abide in Christ.

As Jake expressed last week in his desire to share what Christ has done for us.

When this truth, that Jesus was fully human, takes hold in our hearts, we will be willing to do anything to help others understand.

My desire for a friend that is really suffering...

I want him to know how much Jesus loves him and understands what he is feeling.

Our job is to help others see how Christ bridged the gap between Holiness and Humanity.

Hebrews Hebrews 2:10–18

What is missed both by those who deny the divinity of Jesus and those who reject his full humanity is that we as human beings needed a bridge between deity and humanity that could be built only by one who had experienced fully both sides of the gulf separating us from God. This is the biblical picture.

Andy weir’s new book, Hail Mary.

Alien that breathes ammonia at 19x our atmospheric pressure and humans who breath oxygen. There is no way the two can coexist.

There is no way a perfect God and humans can occupy the same space. Therefore, Jesus became both to bridge the gap.

We

Our goal in knowing Christ is to know him fully and become like Him.

Jesus came to serve, not to be served and our attitude must be changed to be like His.

You ever notice how a couple that has been married for a long time are very much alike?

Not just understanding in our minds what he did for us, but rather to allow his life to change ours into his likeness.

When you think about Sunday mornings, it shouldn’t be about what you like or what you want out of it.

When you are going to Life Group, what is at the forefront of your mind should be others that will be there and how you can love them well.

When you are praying for the people in your life that Jesus is calling you to BLESS, ask God to show you ways to put their needs above your own.

This is how Jesus lived his life, and as his disciples, we should live in the same way by allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us rather than our own desires.

1 Corinthians 15:54–57 CSB

When this corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place: Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Let’s pray.