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SEVEN MINUTE SEMINARY

Remembering the Humanity of Jesus

For practicing Christians, it is easy to focus so much on the divinity of Jesus Christ that his humanity often goes neglected. Some even go so far as to deny that his humanity was real, for fear that it somehow downplays his divine nature.

But the Gospels and other New Testament writings depict Jesus as truly human. In our Scriptures, episodes are recounted where Jesus gets tired, hungry, sleepy, and even fights temptation. At the passing of his close friend Lazarus, the Gospels record that Jesus wept (John 11:35).

In this Seven Minute Seminary, Dr. Jerome Van Kuiken reminds the church that Jesus was very human, and explains what this means for our faith. Rather than follow in the pattern of several early sub-Christian beliefs that were firmly rejected by the church (docetism and apollonarianism), Christians ought to realize the critical significance of our Savior ministering on our behalf in human flesh.

Key Scriptures that teach the full humanity of Jesus:
Matthew 4:2; Matthew 4:11; Mark 13:32; Luke 2:52; Luke 24:39; John 1:14; John 4:6; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 2:5-18; 1 John 4:2; 2 John 7.

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. (Hebrews 2:17, ESV)

Read more about Jesus and his self-understanding (popular level):
Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters by N. T. Wright
Jesus the King: Understanding the Life and Death of the Son of God by Timothy Keller
The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited by Scot McKnight
Fabricating Jesus: How Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels by Craig Evans

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