7 Minute Read

TODAY’S BIBLE READING:

Genesis 42:18–43:34
Matthew 13:47–14:12
Psalm 18:16-36
Proverbs 4:7-10

TODAY’S BIBLE VERSE(S):

Matthew 13:54–57 (CSB): “He went to his hometown and began to teach them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother called Mary, and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, aren’t they all with us? So where does he get all these things?’ And they were offended by him.”

REFLECTIONS ON TODAY’S BIBLE VERSE(S):

Christians believe that Jesus is God. The Bible makes this abundantly clear.

Matthew 1:22-23 (CSB) “Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel,’ which is translated ‘God is with us.'”

John 8:58 (CSB) “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.'”

Titus 2:13 (CSB) “while we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Yet, the Bible is equally clear that Jesus was not simply fully God; He was also just as fully a man.

John 1:1-2, 14 (CSB) “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. … The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

While we believe that Jesus, when He walked the earth, was fully God AND fully man, we often give the fact that He was fully human only lip-service. Some don’t fully embrace it.

I will never forget teaching on Luke 8:22-24 and talking about the time when Jesus was tired after an emotionally taxing day. He was so exhausted that He fell asleep and continued to sleep in the back of a boat during a torrential storm. Yet, after my lesson, someone came to me and said, “So, you’re saying that God gets tired?”

Of course not.

God doesn’t get tired (Isaiah 40:28). But, when Jesus walked the earth as fully human, He obviously got tired.

How are we to understand this? Simply – Jesus was fully God AND fully man. But, when He walked the earth and then went to the cross, He lived His life out as fully human. He was God but when people looked at Him, all they saw was a man.

Just listen to our Verses for Today again…

Matthew 13:54–57 (CSB): “He went to his hometown and began to teach them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother called Mary, and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, aren’t they all with us? So where does he get all these things?’ And they were offended by him.”

The fact that Jesus lived out His life as fully man explains how He could be tempted (Matthew 4:1-11) when the Bible is clear that God cannot be tempted (James 1:13).

The fact that Jesus lived out His life as fully man explains how He did not know when He was coming back (Matthew 24:36) even though God clearly knows when He’s going to send Jesus back to judge the inhabitants of the earth (Acts 17:30-31).

Some would say, “Well, what about Jesus’ miracles?” That question implies that Jesus’ miracles were a demonstration of His deity. Not necessarily so. While Jesus was fully God, His miracles were simply a demonstration that God’s power was upon Him. After all, there were many, many prophets in the Old Testament and many Apostles in the New Testament who performed a boatload of miracles.

(If you want to read an article in which I briefly pointed out why Jesus HAD to come as fully man, click here.)

How are we to understand this? How could Jesus be fully God and yet grow tired, and be tempted, and not know certain things that God the Father knew?

Simply by reading Philippians 2. In the following passage, we read that Jesus, while maintaining His deity, temporarily left His throne in Heaven and temporarily gave up most of His rights and privileges of deity to take on humanity. It was only as He became fully human that He was able to die on the cross on behalf of anyone who will trust in Him.

Philippians 2:5-11 (CSB) “Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,
who, existing in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God
as something to be exploited.
Instead he emptied himself
by assuming the form of a servant,
taking on the likeness of humanity.
And when he had come as a man,
he humbled himself by becoming obedient
to the point of death—
even to death on a cross.
For this reason God highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow—
in heaven and on earth
and under the earth—
and every tongue will confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.”

So, as you read through the Gospels and as you read Paul’s writings that talk about Jesus being the “second Adam” (Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:22, 45), realize that Jesus was fully God.

But also realize that He was equally fully human as He walked the earth. It was absolutely necessary for Him to be fully human in order that we might have a substitute to take our place, bear God’s wrath, and provide forgiveness for any and all who trust in Him.

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