Was Jesus human?
Did Jesus ever get sick? When he hit his thumb with a hammer while working in his father’s carpenter shop, would he have been susceptible to getting an infection? Did Jesus ever get headaches from prolonged exposure to the hot Palestinian sun. Could Jesus have caught the flu from one of his family members? Could Jesus have suffered from a 24-hour stomach virus (nausea, vomiting, diahhrea) caused by drinking dirty water from the Jordan river?
Jesus had a true immaterial soul—His soul was “overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Mt. 26:38). It was to the divine purpose that he subjected his will (Lk. 22:42).
Jesus had a true immaterial spirit—It was into the Father’s hands that he committed his spirit (Lk. 23:46).
Jesus had a genuinely human emotional life—He felt compassion (Mt. 9:36; 20:34; Mk. 1:41; 6:34; 8:2; Lk. 7:13; love (Jn. 11:3; 15:8–12; Mk. 10:21); anger (Mk. 3:5; Jn. 2:13–17); and joy (Lk. 7:34; 10:21; Jn. 15:11; 17:13).
The Mystery of the Incarnation and Humanity of Jesus
“The omnipotent, in one instant, made himself breakable. He who had been spirit became piercable. He who was larger than the universe became an embryo. And he who sustains the world with a word chose to be dependent upon the nourishment of a young girl. God as a fetus. Holiness sleeping in a womb. The creator of life being created. God was given eyebrows, elbows, two kidneys, and a spleen. He stretched against the walls and floated in the amniotic fluids of his mother” (Lucado, God Came Near, 25–6).
As Paul said in 1 Tim. 3:16, “great is the mystery of godliness: God was revealed in the flesh!”
God became a fertilized egg! An embryo. A fetus. God kicked Mary from within her womb! God entered the world as a baby, amid the stench of manure and cobwebs and prickly hay in a stable. Mary cradled God in her arms. “He doesn’t look like a Creator,” she says to herself. Envision the newborn Jesus: misshaped head; wrinkled skin; red face. Just think: angels watched as Mary changed God’s diapers! Tiny hands (that would touch/heal the sick and yet be ripped by nails); eyes (what color were they?); tiny feet (where would they take him? they, too, would be pierced by nails); she tickled his side (which would also be lanced with a spear).
- Infancy: God learned to crawl, stand, walk; he spilt his milk and fell and hit his head.
- Youth: was he uncoordinated? how well did he perform at sports? perhaps Jesus knew the pain of always being picked last when the kids chose up sides for a ballgame. God learned his ABC’s!
- Teenager: Jesus probably had pimples and body odor and bad breath. God went through puberty! His voice changed; he had to shave; girls probably had a crush on him and boys probably teased him. There were probably some foods he didn’t like (Squash!). Could he sing? Maybe he couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket!?
- Carpenter: calloused hands; dealings with customers who tried to cheat him or complained about his work; how did he react when they shortchanged him?
Some think it irreverent to speak of Jesus this way. As Max Lucado has said,
“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. He’s easier to stomach that way. There is something about keeping him divine that keeps him distant, packaged, predictable. But don’t do it. For heaven’s sake, don’t. Let him be as human as he intended to be. Let him into the mire and muck of our world. For only if we let him in can he pull us out” (26–7).
Storms, S. (2006). Christology. Oklahoma City, OK: Sam Storms.
