John 1 shares with us the truth that Jesus is eternal and fully God, yet God became flesh and dwelt among us. The incarnation is certainly a brain-scrambler as it means Jesus was 100% God AND 100% human. He was not some mixture of divine and human where the divine part plus the human part equals the 100%.
For centuries, art has depicted Jesus in multiple ways. I remember the stain-glass portrait of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. It was located in the narthex of our church where I grew up. There was the Lord, looking caucasian, calm, hands folded as He stared up into the heavenly glow shining down upon His sweat-free, tear-free face. Not the picture of anxiety, sweat, stress and blood we read of in Scripture. Ancient art depicts Jesus and the apostles in flat, two-demensional expressions with ornate dinner plates behind their heads meant to represent their "halos." Contemporary art often focuses more on the humanity of Christ, as He joyfully plays with children in a flowery meadow or lets them pull His beard and long hair as they sit on His lap. Jesus obviously had long hair, right?
It is difficult. We either keep our focus on Jesus being God and lose sight of His humanity or vice versa. But it is essential to remember He is the God-Man. Just as a crime creates a debt to society, our sin creates a debt to God. This debt is infinite because it is to an infinite God. Needless to say, we are not capable of paying this debt; only God can. But He does not owe it. So, the only one who can pay the debt is God and the one who owes the debt is humanity. That is why God became flesh and dwelt among us. He lived a life free of sin. His humanity always submitted to His divinity, but it was by choice.
We may think Jesus had an unfair advantage at resisting sin. He is God and God cannot be tempted after all. But He was fully flesh, fully human. He assumed everything about our humanity. So, He was tempted in every way we are, and beyond because we cave in so quickly. He was truly tempted in the wilderness, the Garden of Gethsemane and at the cross on a level we cannot imagine. Yet, He did not sin. He assumed our humanity so He could save us. If He did not assume it, it is not saved. Thus, He felt pain, anger, love, stress, exhaustion, happiness and fun. He ate food, burped, slept, cried, got cold and tired. Because He assumed all of our humanity, all of me is saved! He assumed 100% and saved 100%. Why do I feel like I am "really" sacrificing when I give a tithe of 10% or less? Jesus did not assume just 10% of humanity. He did not die for just 40% of my sins. He did not bear just 90% of the cross. He bore all of the cross and all of the wrath my sins deserve. As His follower, He is not interested in portions of my time, talent and treasure, He wants all of me.
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