“Now My soul is troubled. What should I say – Father, save Me from this hour? But that is why I cam to this hour. Father, glorify Your name!” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again!” John 12:27-28 HCSB
Humor me for a moment and get an image of Jesus in your mind… Now, where is He? What is He doing? What is He wearing? Who is around Him? Is He talking? If so, how does He sound? What is He saying? After you have this mental image, how divine is He and how human is He? This might seem like trick question because we all know that Jesus was “fully human and fully God.” But if you were to draw a line with divine on one end and human on the other, where would your image of Jesus reside?
If you are like me, my image of Jesus is often more of a divine God-man that is somehow devoid of true human qualities. My image of Jesus often has a “divine presence” that is seemingly untouched by reality in the way that “normal people” would be affected. The image I often have is formed by the pictures that hung on the wall in my Sunday School class when I was a child… Jesus was depicted wearing white with children gathered around Him and with His arms gracefully outstretched…
If we are not careful, we can mentally create an image of Jesus that is void of His humanity. But let me ask you this question – If we can not identify with our idea of Jesus, then how can we be like Him? No one can be mostly divine with a few human qualities sprinkled on top. Why? Because we are human. We can not replicate, much less understand an angelic Jesus. But there is Good News. The Gospels often surprise us with passages that portray the humanity of Jesus. It is often these passages that hit us like a cold bucket of water and wake us up from our dreamed up versions of Jesus.
Challenge: The passage today is saturated with the humanity of Jesus. Take a moment and read this passage as if you are someone in the crowd around Jesus. As you read, start from the perspective of seeing Jesus’ humanity. What emotions do you see in His face? What tone do you hear in His voice? What are His eyes communicating? What is His body language communicating? Is He surprised, energetic, sullen, happy, angry, or determined? After re-creating this scene in your mind, talk to Jesus about His humanity. What does He want to teach you about His humanity? As you go through today, meditate on the humanity of Jesus… Follow Him in His humanity, for He is the perfect example of what it means to be truly human.
Note: Today’s devotional was written by guest writter, Jonathan Moore.