The humanity of Jesus

I think I have finally figured out a better way to do this thing. Instead of forcing a writing every day, maybe I should space things out and only write when I feel like there is a message close to my heart. I think I will try that for awhile rather than deal with the frustration of struggling to write something everyday. Quality of Quantity, you know?

Lately I have been reading the book Incredible Moments with the Savior by Ken Gire. It deals primarily with the human moments of Jesus’ ministry. It is a very small devotional guide with 13 different moments from His ministry seen from a strictly human perspective.

Lately I have been fascinated by that side of Jesus. Gire’s book is essentially a focus peace on the love and compassion exhibited by Christ. I don’t think we focus on his humanity enough though. Yes, Jesus was and is fully God. He had a divine nature that we cannot even begin to grasp within our frame of mind. He was a man that was with God at the Beginning, yet He was still fully human.

There are so many moments where we see Jesus’ human emotions coming through. Most of these are from the last three years of His life during his public ministry. We don’t have a glimpse into the first 30 years of His life where he lived quietly as a carpenter in Nazareth. One of the common threads about each moment we see from Jesus is His compassion.

When you think about it, compassion is one of the main reasons for His ministry. It was compassion that drove Him to be a sacrifice for the sins of the world. It was evident in more than His sacrifice though. Many of His miracles were driven by this compassion, not by his desire to prove His divinity. Think of the moment with the Royal Official (John 4:46-53). This man had money, power, and respect, but he still came to Jesus in desperation because of his son’s illness. Jesus saw this man’s desperation and acted out of compassion.

We could benefit from this. I know I could. All too often I let my bitterness and cynicisms get the best of me. It makes me judgmental and closed off: the opposite attitude I need to have.

Jesus teaches that compassion does not have to come in huge gestures either. It can come in a simple kindness such as a note of encouragement. IT can even come in the simple form of prayer. Over the last couple days I have tried to step back from a larger picture in order to see what I can do on a smaller scale, even if that scale only in prayer. Jesus is the one that is big enough to hand the larger scale things. He even teaches that we can only handle what we have today. I hope this makes sense today.