Jesus: A God Who Was Human

Theologically we speak of Jesus as fully human and fully divine.  That means he must have been something of a living paradox—an enigma. He obviously possessed qualities that were divine, such as the ability to heal others and perform miracles, including rising from the dead, which no human has ever done before or since.  But at the same time, other scenes show him to be quite human, with a range of emotions, which would suggest he had weakness, folly—and maybe even failure—just like any other human that has ever lived on this third rock from the Sun. 

I think the people that followed Jesus got to know a real person.  Especially in Mark’s telling of the story, I think we see a fully human Jesus on display, one who wrestles with what it will take to live out his call to sacrifice his life.  Most scholars think Mark’s account is the oldest Gospel.  It almost seems like later writers decided we needed a more Divine Jesus to worship (more of a Super Hero if you will), so they increasingly downplayed his human side.^* But what if it was precisely the fact this God was so human that made him so believable and accessible?  What if his being real and vulnerable was what made others willing to follow him?  I think that might be the whole point of the incarnation in the first place. 

^*For example, the Gospel of John, which may be the most “recent” of the four narratives written about the life of Jesus, seems to take things to the opposite extreme, emphasizing a fully divine Jesus. The author frequently interrupts the narrative to remind us that Jesus knew exactly what he was doing and why, but did a particular act for the benefit of others.

Back to Part I.