Fully God and
Fully Human
There is
no doubt that Jesus was, is, and will always remain the one true God. Scripture makes that very clear from the very
beginning. Not only does it say that
Jesus was involved in the creation of the world, but that he existed before
creation. Throughout the Old Testament Jesus
appeared at different times to different people as “the Angel of the Lord” performing
multiple miracles in that form to prove who he was. When he was physically here on this earth during
the New Testament times Jesus displayed his divine glory in a number of
different ways: healings, exorcisms, power over the laws of nature, mind
reading, predicting the future, and even a brief presentation of his majesty to
a few of his disciples when he was transformed in front of them on top of a
mountain. The Bible gives Jesus the
names of God; the Bible describes Jesus with the characteristics of God; the
Bible attributes to Jesus the actions of God.
Jesus was, is, and always will be the one true God in whom we all
believe.
But
there also is no doubt that Jesus was, is, and always will be a human being too. At the very moment he took on the flesh and
blood of a living being in the womb of his mother Mary, Jesus was just like us
in every way. And Scripture proves that
too. For example: Jesus had to
sleep. Jesus needed to eat. Jesus was physically exhausted at times, he was
susceptible to injury, he was affected by the weather. Jesus learned things; he was exposed to
temptations; he had a distinct personality.
The Bible calls Jesus a human being; the Bible describes Jesus with
characteristics of a normal human being; the Bible attributes to Jesus the
actions of a normal human being. Jesus
was, is, and always will be the man in whom we all believe.
And
although we would all agree that Jesus is both fully God and fully human at one
and the same time, those two concepts are sometimes a little difficult to
comprehend when we try to put them together in our puny little minds. Because on the one hand we like to think of
Jesus as someone who was so stable that he was unaffected by his emotions; but
then we read that he cried at the gravesite of his good friend Lazarus. We like to think of Jesus as someone who knew
everything all the time, but then we hear that when he was twelve years old,
Jesus “grew in wisdom and in stature”
(Luke 2:52). We like to think of
Jesus as someone who didn’t have any problems, someone who was able to handle
whatever was thrown at him, someone who didn’t need any help. But then we read a passage like Hebrews
5:7-10:
Jesus’ Prayers
and Petitions
“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth,
he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who
could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent
submission. Although he was a son, he
learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the
source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to
be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.”
Jesus
prayed to his Father - and he prayed passionately! He offered up his pleas and his petitions
with vehement cries and actual tears!
Was the writer of this letter to the Hebrews referring back to the
prayers of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane when sweat poured off his face
like drops of blood? Possibly. Was the author of this passage referring back
to the many times Jesus stayed up all night praying or when he got up early in
the morning when it was still dark to approach his Father’s throne with his
requests? Maybe. Or do these verses refer to other incidents of
private devotional time of our Savior that are not mentioned in the pages of
Scripture? Could be. In any case, Jesus prayed with verbal sounds
of anguish coming out of his mouth and real tears streaming down his face. Can you imagine your Lord doing that? Can you actually picture this God-Man
pleading so vigorously with his Father that he physically and emotionally spent
himself? It sounds to me like Jesus was someone
who was in some serious need. It sounds
like he was someone who needed help.
But did
Jesus really need help? Our God? Our mighty and powerful and immovable
Lord? Did he really need help? Well, consider this: after he battled the
devil in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights, “The angels came and attended him” (Matt. 4:11). And near the end of his ministry when he was
vehemently praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, “An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.” (Luke
22:43). And then again here: “He offered up prayers and petitions with
loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard
because of his reverent submission.”
It sure sounds like he needed help, doesn’t it? Jesus was a real human being, after all. And so he prayed to the one who could save
him from death because while he was on this earth he faced a lot of terrible
things and he knew he was going to have to undergo much worse by the time it
was all over. And as a real live human
being, he needed some assistance from his God.
He needed some strength; he needed some assurance; he needed some courage;
he needed life. Jesus really did need
help. And his Father was ready and willing
to give it to him.
Do We Need
Help?
Now if
Jesus - the only person ever to live a perfect life, the only one who was able
to keep every single one of God’s commands in every single way, the only man
who not only came from the Father but was actually one with him - if this Jesus
needed help while he was here on this earth, don’t you think we need his help even
more?
Of
course we do. I don’t think anyone here
would claim that he or she doesn’t need help from the Lord in this life… And so that means you often times pray with
loud cries and tears streaming down your face just like Jesus did, right? Well, you at least stay up all night long
sometimes just so that you can go to your Father when you’re in need, don’t
you? Well, don’t you normally take a
couple hours out of your busy schedule each week and go someplace by yourself
just so that you can be alone with your God as you plead to him for his
assistance?... I don’t either. I pray little prayers throughout the day for
a variety of things, but I normally don’t block out a large amount of time to
pray to the Lord on a regular basis.
Maybe if something is really going wrong or if someone I care about is
on the verge of death or if I am physically sick for an extended period of
time, then maybe I’ll pray for more than five minutes straight. And I’m sure that most of you pray more often
and more sincerely than I do, because on a normal day I usually just go about
my life, figuring that I can handle a lot of the little things on my own.
But do I
really think that I would be able to even get out of bed each morning with the
Lord’s help? Do I really think that I
could perform my duties as a father or husband or a friend or pastor without
the Lord’s constant assistance? Do I
really think that I would be able to do something as simple as take a breath of
fresh air without the Lord’s hand guiding me along? We need help all of the time in every little
thing. Sadly though, sometimes it is not
until we paint ourselves into a corner or find ourselves underneath an
impossible load or run out of options that we realize how much help we really
needed in the first place. We didn’t ask
our Lord for help going into it; we didn’t ask him in the middle of it; but now
that we are at our wit’s end, now
it’s time to pray to the Lord and plead for his intervention. We didn’t “need” his help before, but now we sure do!
Jesus is Our
Helpful High Priest
I think
we all realize how silly that is for us to do.
We act and talk and think like we can do plenty of things on our own,
only to pray to our God after we’ve tried everything else because things didn’t
work out like we had planned. But when
our Lord hears those prayers that we pray far too late and not often enough and
only when we don’t know what else to do, he listens to them anyway. And he gives us his full attention. And he answers those prayers with his
love. Yes, we should have gone to him
before. Yes, we should have leaned on
him the entire time. Yes, we were wrong
to have assumed that we could deal with it all on our own. But Jesus doesn’t hold that against us. He welcomes that prayer long overdue. He is thrilled by it! Because he knows exactly what you’re going
through.
He used
to be in your very situation, after all!
He was the one who had been down on his knees! He was the one who had his hands folded and
head bowed and eyes closed! He was the
one who had prayed so hard he was sweating and shouting out and crying! Jesus was the one who had needed help at some
very critical times! And so he knows
exactly how he can help you. He knows
exactly how you feel. He knows exactly
what you need. He knows exactly what to do. And he is compassionate enough and forgiving
enough to want to do it.
Thank
the Lord that “he was designated by God
to be high priest.”
Jesus was the new High Priest.
Jesus was the High Priest unlike any that came from the tribe of
Levi. Because Jesus is the eternal High
Priest. And Jesus is your High Priest. One who
intercedes for you before his Father in heaven.
One who represents you. One who
defends you. One who has been where you
are right now and one who has gone to places you never want to be. One who has suffered what you are suffering
right now - and even more. One who has
been tempted in every way just like you are tempted right now - and to an even
greater degree. One who has gone through
everything you have gone through and much, much worse. Your High Priest isn’t distant or aloof,
unconcerned and unaware of what you are suffering; your High Priest has felt
every pain; he has faced every trouble; and he has prayed every prayer that you
will ever have to send up to your Father’s throne.
And so pray
to him. Go to your High Priest when you
need help. And you don’t have to sweat
or shout or cry when you pray. You just
have to talk to him. And he’ll hear
you. He’ll listen to you. He’ll be more than happy to help you. Because that’s what he’s there for. He’s there just for you. To remind you about his love and his
sacrifice and his victory; to assure you that his death is now yours and his
life soon will be. And he never gets
tired of it. Our helpful High Priest
never gets tired of hearing your prayers or helping you in your need. Because he knows what it’s like. He’s experienced it all. He feels your pain. He’s been there. And one day, he wants you to feel what it’s
like to be up there with him.
Amen.
“Call upon me in
the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.” - Ps. 50:15
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