Jesus, Fully Human

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada on this beautiful Christmas Eve.

And all this week I have been quietly celebrating Christmas in my heart by reading David Mathis’ new book “The Christmas We Didn’t Expect.” The title says it all, because there are so many things about Christmas that surprise us. Like, well, I don’t think we ever expected that Jesus would be so, so human. Yet it says in Colossians 2:9 that “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” Could this man, this child we celebrate today, could he actually be God himself? Wow!

Now think about this: when Jesus was born and as he grew, and as he started his public ministry, no one questioned his humanity. I mean, the shepherds and the wisemen, and later on the disciples and the crowds, all of them saw and heard for themselves. They touched him; they walked with him; they ate meals with him. It was given that he was human. But as David Mathis says in his book, “By the second generation of Christians and beyond, it was a given that Jesus was divine. After all, they worshipped him. And yet as time went by, within the church at least, the truth about Jesus’ humanity was soon neglected and even denied.”

David Mathis goes on to say that we must avoid that same mistake. He says, “[Christmas] is a ripe opportunity for reflecting on not just the easy parts of the incarnation, but the uncomfortable parts of what it means that our Lord is fully human. For not only did the Son of God have – and still has – a fully human body, but also a fully human mind, heart, and will.”

Think about that. You can see for yourself throughout the gospels that Jesus had deep emotions. He was sorrowful, he was deeply moved, he was greatly troubled; it even says he prays with loud cries and tears. We also know that Jesus was exceedingly joyful. This Jesus we celebrate today also has a human mind. Remember the Scripture says he increased in wisdom. Goodness, Jesus tells us he doesn’t even know the day of his own return – only the Father knows that. But here we have one person who has both an infinite, divine mind, and a finite, human mind. And as much as a paradox as it is, the Bible affirms that Jesus both knows all things as God, yet doesn’t know all things as man. That’s not a contradiction – as David Mathis explains – it is a particular glory of this God-man, Jesus.

But probably the most difficult thing to grasp is that Jesus has a human will. There in the Garden of Gethsemane he prays to his Father. He says, nevertheless “not as I will, but as you will.” Now, that is mystery beyond our grasp. Yes, this wonderful Jesus whom we celebrate is like us in every way – body, heart, mind and will. Jesus is like us in every respect except for sin. So, he took on our humanity not only at the first Christmas, but he took it all the way to the cross. And then, he took it into heaven as our pioneer, right into the presence of God. Again, I’m grateful to David Mathis and his thoughts in “The Christmas We Didn’t Expect.” Today, on Christmas Eve, be glad, be happy, be thankful that Jesus took on a human body to save our bodies. But he took on a human mind to save our minds. And he took on a human will so that he might save our broken will that is so prone to wander. Jesus became man in the fullest so that he might save us in the fullest. And that is good reason to say Merry Christmas!

© Joni and Friends

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