LUKE 2

How human was Jesus?

If you've spent much of any time in church circles, you know the correct answer to this question. Jesus was fully God and fully man.  We know the words we're supposed to say, but in practice I don't feel like we often know how to balance the divinity and humanity of God.

• When did Jesus known He was God?  
• Did Jesus always know everything?
• Did Jesus always have all of His powers?  
• Did Jesus have acne?  
• Was Jesus clumsy?  
• Did Jesus ever walk face first into a wall on accident?  
• Was Jesus funny?  
• Did Jesus have any chronic health issues?

Some of these questions seem silly at first, but really they're at the core of our understanding of what it means for Jesus to be both human and divine.  Most people I talk to assume Jesus always had His divine powers, but they've never stopped to consider that Jesus may have been a social awkward teenager with acne.  

Likewise, they're at the core at what it means for Jesus to be perfect.  See if Jesus was fully human, He dealt with fully human things.  

Newborn Jesus (Luke 2:1-22)

Some of the songs we sing about Jesus contain some interesting lyrics considering Jesus was fully human.

AWAY IN A MANGER

The cattle are lowing, the Baby awakes,
But little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes

SILENT NIGHT

Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright

Radiant beams from Thy holy face

Based on our Christmas carols, on the night Jesus was born it was a silent night where Jesus didn't cry and radiant beams came off of his face.  While this paints a beautiful picture of divine Jesus, my experience observing my two children's birth played out a little different.  While my children were born in a 21st century hospital, Jesus was practically born in a barn.  

I don't want to ruin your favorite Christmas songs, but is there really any reason newborn Jesus couldn't cry that night?  Is there a reason that Mary while in labor in a barn had to be silent?

These paint a majestic divine view of the birth of Jesus, but not very human.

Jesus Age 12 (Luke 2:41-51)

We know very little about Jesus life between the ages of 2 and 30. Really we only get one snapshot in chapter 2 of Luke.

LUKE 2

41 Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. 42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. 43 After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it.

Not surprisingly Jesus family becomes worried and starts to try to find Jesus. It takes three days of looking and they finally find him at the temple.

LUKE 2

48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”

49 “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So let's recap:

• 12 year old Jesus wandered off from His parents
• 12 year old Jesus didn't tell them what He was doing
• 12 year old Jesus' parents were worried about Him
• 12 year old Jesus' parents didn't understand him

While the ingredients of the story are different from our stories, at the core of the story is an extremely common one. A 12 year old boy wandered off without telling his parents. The parents got worried, and didn't understand what he was doing.

It seems this is a common trait of 12 year old boys, even divine 12 year old boys.  A poet from the 80s named the Fresh Prince actually wrote about the tension between parents and children.

You know parents are the same no matter time nor place
They don't understand that us kids are gonna make some mistakes
So to you, all the kids all across the land
There's no need to argue, parents just don't understand

 Jesus Grew in Wisdom (Luke 2:52)

Luke 2

52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

One of the most interesting verses in the Bible is Luke 2:52.  It tells us that Jesus grew in both wisdom and stature.  So even the fully divine Jesus grew in wisdom.  It will be interesting when we get to Heaven. I'd love to ask Jesus so many questions about His humanity and divinity and how that worked. 

For now the important thing is that we understand that Jesus' humanity and divinity are a tension, which we must balance.  We dont' reconcile these questions by forgetting either aspect of who He was.  He was both God and Man.