Every Word

Lutheran Cathedral, HelsinkiImage by duopastorale via Flickr

From then on he taught each day in the Temple. The high priests, religion scholars, and the leaders of the people were trying their best to find a way to get rid of him. But with the people hanging on every word he spoke, they couldn't come up with anything.
Luke 19:47-48

A few days ago I was talking with a friend about the way Jesus always had a perfect answer to those wanted to challenge him and catch him out with a difficult question. She then said that she thought Jesus was a genius. This struck me, as it seems to me to be a very human attribute. I thought, 'of course Jesus was a genius, he is God after all!' And then I thought about Jesus' humanity and how he was just like us in so many ways, with his own particular personality and giftings. Of course, people were drawn to him because he was speaking words of life, but maybe he also had that charisma and ability to hold a crowd and communicate, that God had given him especially for the task. The people 'hung on his every word'. How many people do you know like that?

For the people who followed Jesus in the bible the challenge was to believe that he was divine (a mind blowing thought when he was standing in front of them, looking no different from anyone else), but for us who follow him in the 21st century the challenge may be to believe that Jesus was human, just like us.

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Comments

Anonymous said…
Put like that Mike,it is a challenging thought. We know by faith that Jesus was/is divine,but yes, I can see how it could be difficult for us, this millenium and some later to grapple with his humanity. Interesting.
Andrea said…
Another interesting post Mike. Thanks for this one.
Gudl said…
Yes, good thinking!
In any case, Jesus was/is awesome!!
;-)
The genius is of God. Divinity and humanity is of God. The Son is of the Father gifted by the Spirit. All are God. Thank you, Mike. Really a grand reflection! Cathy
Wanda said…
Great post Mike. The "God" man! Don't you wish you could have heard Him speak those great answers to the "trick questions" tht were always thrown out to Him.
ChrisJ said…
So hard to comprehend Someone so great -- but then He is God. And honestly, I'm so thankful some days that He has all the answers -- and He knows the questions.
TMM said…
That makes it simple for us...we can follow His footsteps cos He didn't live that life as God alone, but as God in human flesh. We have Him living in us and we can do all things. There are no "can'ts" in our dictionary!

Sidharth
Angie said…
Something I never really thought of. Interesting.

Still hanging on His every word,
Angie
gaz said…
great post mike. i agree with your thinking.
zakscloset said…
it's hard to think of jesus as just a human like us though!
KOSTAS said…
Splendid post, amazing the photograph, but the comment Genius, most excellent answer!
imac said…
Powerful Post Mike.
Sharon said…
So true, that is very hard to wrap our minds around. The first instinct is to take anything He did for granted, because He was God. But He was ALSO man, with all the same struggles and temptations. (beautiful pic, too!) Hope you have a blessed Easter :)
wonderful!
(What version of the Bible are you quoting from?)
Barbara said…
I guess at the time he was a humna vessel just like us but He contained the divine life of God His Father, again just like us. Quite a paradox.
Debbie365 said…
Beautiful photo, great message. Thanks for the comments on my blog. I responded, so if you have a chance, to back and look. Maybe I can figure out a way to post a recording! A new project!
That last paragraph made me stop and think. I'm always interested in the historical Jesus and who the man was in His time. I'd never thought about any difficulty in imagining Him as Divine! Thank you for offering this, Mike.

PS. I came here from Britt-Arnhild's.

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