When we get baptized we are always asked the same question, “Do you believe that Jesus Christ is your lord?” It’s a good question to ask seeing as how we are called “Christians” and the entire basis of our beliefs are based on the fact that Jesus is the word and the word was with God and the word was god. However, we sometimes forget about the human side of Jesus.
This isn’t always easy though. Think about it. What do we really mean when we say “he is only human”? We are saying that we, as humans, are imperfect. We make mistakes, we aren’t perfect, and Jesus is perfect, right? Jesus didn’t make mistakes, he didn’t have a plan that didn’t happen the way he wanted, and he didn’t learn anything because he knew everything, but that would mean that he isn’t human. When God sent his son the people were awaiting a non-human king, but he sent a baby in the most human form that he possibly could have. The people wanted to have God lead them into victory and place the Jews above all other people, but God wanted to provide more than just a sacrifice. He wanted us to have an example. God came to the earth to not only tell us how to live, but also to show us.
We have a tendency to believe that we can’t live our lives the same way that God did, but God came to the earth with all of the same challenges and trials as you. He has shown us that we can do everything that he did. We want our God to come in and show our enemies that we were right, but we are falling into the same thoughts as those who persecuted Jesus. We tend to think of Jesus as being God in a human body, but God came to be fully human. Jesus felt the pains of the human experience. He has loved and lost people, he has grieved, and he has been affected by the people around him. He had a special place in his heart for all of us, but he as a human has a special area for the women that are low in society. He grew up as a human where people saw his mother as an impure widow and treated her unjustly. Judging people when you aren’t perfect is bad in his eyes, but when he sees it personally happen to his mother, he has a special passion to teach against these actions. Can you even think of something more vulnerable than a human baby? Our lord at a time couldn’t eat without his mother, he couldn’t talk, and he couldn’t even use a toilet! Our God came to be so vulnerable that he needed a diaper change so that you can see that you don’t need to be perfect to be without sin. You may make mistakes, you may fall, you may not know what to do, and our lord has been there, and he did all that he could to live for God. It may not be easy, but we can do it, because he did.