Years ago, Josh McDowell wrote a wonderful little book titled “More Than a Carpenter.” If you haven’t read it, I would encourage you to get a copy. (There are a few in our Church Library … feel free to borrow.) It is also an excellent book to give to an unbeliever. If a person wants to know the truth about Jesus, it is available. If they are not open to the truth, then just pray for them.
Jesus was the most unique person to ever walk on the face of the earth. He came from heaven, as the Son of God, but was born of a virgin, named Mary, so He was also the Son of man. She conceived under the power of the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Trinity.
In this meditation, I want to focus on His humanity. I will give you the points regarding His humanity plus corresponding scriptures. I urge you to look them up and even highlight them in your Bible.
1. Jesus had human parents. Matthew 1:18-19
2. He had a human birth. Galatians 4:4; Matthew 1:23
3. He experienced human growth. Luke 2:42-50
4. He was of human ethnicity. Genesis 49:10; Matthew 24:46; Hebrews 7:14; Galatians 4:14
5. He had human relatives. John 7:5; Mark 6:3; Luke 1:36
6. He expressed human emotions. Matthew 26:39; John 11:35; Hebrews 5:7
7. He experienced human hunger. John 13;1-2; 4:1-7; 19:28
8. He experienced human pain. Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:25-34; John 19:28
9. He experienced human fatigue. John 4:6; Mark 6:31
10. He experienced human death. John 19:26-27; 20:27; Matthew 27:46; Luke 24:40
11. Jesus had a human spirit and soul. John 12:27; 13:21; 19:30
Jesus, however, was far more than a good moral man. He claimed equality with God. John 10:30-33
He claimed to be the way to God. John 14:6
He was, and can, forgive us of our sins. Mark 2:5-7
C. S. Lewis was one of the most intellectual men who ever lived. For quite some time he believed that Jesus was just a good moral teacher. Upon focusing on the claims Jesus made about himself, Lewis realized that Jesus truly was the Son of God and the Son of man and he experienced a total transformation of heart and life.
In his book, “Mere Christianity” he wrote:
“I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is one thing that we must NOT say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of thing Jesus said would NOT be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he’s a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse.”
Then Lewis adds this about Jesus: “You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
So, dear reader — who and what is Jesus to you?
· Is He your Savior and Lord?
· Or, is He just a good moral teacher?
In John 3:15 NLT, we read “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in Him. But anyone who does not believe in Him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.”
Jesus not only died in our place on the cross, but three days later He was resurrected, thus triumphing over death and making it possible for us to have a personal relationship with God the Father by trusting in Him.
In John 1:12 NLT we read, “But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God.”
If you have never received Jesus as your Savior and Lord, I urge you to do so right now. In Romans 10:13 we read “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.” Call on Him today, asking Him to forgive your sin and to come in and take over your life, and He will do it. You will never be the same. Let me know if you make that decision so that I can rejoice with you.
For His glory,
Pastor Leonard
