From the Chapel Glen Church of Christ bulletin: JESUS WEPT 8/25/13 By Glen Owens Jesus was spiritual inasmuch as he was the Son of God but he was fleshly because he was born of Mary. He was thus spiritual and physical in the same body which makes him like us but different by virtue of the Spirit of God that lived within him. This concept is difficult for us to understand because we have never known anyone exactly like Jesus. The human or physical side of Jesus is shown in many instances where his human side was made evident. When he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted or tested by Satan he had to show his human nature or there would have been no temptation. How long was Jesus tempted? Luke 4:1-13 records his temptation and says that he was tempted 40 days. The specific temptations that are recorded seemed to have occurred at the end of his fasting for the 40 days but the temptation was not just for the short time, as we may sometimes believe. An important scripture for us to remember is Hebrews 4:15 which says; “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 2:17-18 also refers to the fact that Jesus also suffered as we do. Even though Jesus was the Son of God, he developed earthly friendships. His friendship with Mary, Martha and Lazarus is recorded in John 11. Lazarus became sick and the sisters sent to Jesus saying, “Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick”. This indicates the close relationship he had with them. He delayed going to them and Lazarus died. There is more to this story than what we are putting here. Ultimately, Jesus asked where Lazarus’ body was laid and they took him to the grave. Verse 35 says that Jesus wept. Various reasons have been speculated as to why Jesus wept but one thing can we can be sure of is that this showed his human side. The people at the grave believed that it showed his love for Lazarus. Several times in the life of Jesus the writer says that Jesus had compassion. He had it for the multitude when he fed them. He had it for various people that he healed. Compassion is a feeling of sorrow or sympathy for someone. This feeling was a demonstration of how we are to feel toward others. The emotion that Jesus showed for Israel is shown when he lamented over Jerusalem. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Mt.23:37) The tender feeling he had for God’s chosen people shows in this verse. There may have even been a little bitterness in the fact that they had rejected him. Although Jesus seemed to disregard his mother and family during his ministry, he showed his concern for her when he was dying on the cross. He spoke to her and his beloved John and told John to take care of her. How difficult it must have been for him to watch his mother as he suffered on the cross as he realized that she was suffering with him. During that stressful time he paused to make sure that she would be taken care of in his absence. Unbelievers attempt to show that Jesus was totally spiritual and had no human traits. However, they ignore many of the examples of how Jesus reacted as a human in touching situations. We can be very thankful that he was both human and spiritual because he lived a perfect example of how we are to live.
Posted on: Sun, 25 Aug 2013 11:10:47 +0000
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