journey onWord with us

It has been our longstanding pattern at Journey onWord to offer some devotional thoughts each day of Holy Week, fully present in that specific day, centered on the people, places, events and truths of this greatest story ever told. God has been so good and gracious in authoring a freshness each year, even though some of the words may sound like echoes of years past. It is the experience of the earnest reader of Scripture that each new encounter with the words and stories can feel like the first time you’ve ever read them. In the epistle to the Hebrews we read,

For the word of God is alive and powerful…
chapter four, verse twelve (NLT)

Yes, and more. Amen, and amen.

This year, my thoughts and emphasis are strongly influenced by a prolonged exposure to the person of Jesus in my personal study and weekly gatherings with my Wednesday morning brothers for more than a year now. Throughout this treasured season of consuming and considering, the humanity and humility of Jesus has come alive as never before. And those will be center stage as we observe together the dramatic days from triumphal entry to resurrection. He is risen!

As we stand a bit longer at the threshold of this gut-wrenching and glorious week, I would like to acknowledge the difficulty that some may feel with the focus on Christ’s humanity. It is good and right to be vigilant with the truth of God and His taking on flesh. It should never stand independent of His divinity. Yet, at the same time, neither should His divinity stand independent of His humanity. We miss something profound and essential if we do not wonder, with the help of the Spirit, about the essence and everyday of Jesus being human. I hope to scratch the surface of that truth a bit this coming week. I pray it is profitable.

In my time with the truth of Christ’s humanity, I have come to see an essential flaw that just might be near the source of any discomfort. Perhaps I can illustrate it best with an excerpt from a popular song from the 80’s band, The Human League (yes, God is the author of such things as humor and irony). The chorus of their hit song titled, Human, reads like this:

I’m only human; of flesh and blood I’m made
Human, born to make mistakes

I wonder how quickly one might nod at these lyrics; how closely it speaks the truth of what some Christians believe is the definition of humanity. And if I am even anywhere near correct in my wondering, it is no wonder why there are varying degrees of discomfort and discontent with an emphasis on the humanity of Jesus. But I don’t believe this is the full truth. And I believe those words that really do sound right are the “one degree” twist of God’s truth that His enemy so loves to do — and so effectively wields as a weapon.

Our humanity (the wholeness of it) belongs to God. It was badly corrupted by the fall, but God’s enemy never did (and never will) take possession of it. God created Adam with a human form that was always intended for us. He then took on that same form Himself and showed us how to live in it, in the person of Jesus. To say that we are born to make mistakes is to give credit to God’s enemy for possessing what he doesn’t. We are born with a sin nature, yes, but our humanity is not defined by it. And that certainly goes for the sinless One. The second Adam — who didn’t fall for the tempter’s trick.

The comprehension of Jesus being fully God and fully Man is on par with the mystery of the Trinity. And it is essential to the story of His taking on flesh and giving up His life to complete God’s plan of redemption. It will not be my aim this coming week to prove any point. Rather, with the Spirit’s help, I want only to draw you to the person of Jesus in the week, days and moments leading up to and through His dying and rising … all for us.