*Jesus Experienced Sorrow & Sadness

Like any man Jesus experienced great sorrow and sadness. When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane preparing to face the cross, Jesus said to His disciples, "My soul is exceedingly-sorrowful¹²⁸, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me" (Matt 26:38).

As Jesus got ready to go to the cross, the Bible teaches that He prayed to God if possible that the cup of suffering might pass Him by. So much in distress was Jesus that Luke records: "And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground." (Luke 22:44).

Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his soul for his friends" (John 15:13). Jesus laid down his soul for us on the cross.

Jesus experienced human anger when he drove out the money changers from the temple (John 2:14-17). He must have experienced anger many times at the unbelief of His people: "O unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you?" (Matt 17:17). He experienced anger when He rebuked Peter: "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s" (Matt 16:23). Mark tells us that Jesus looked with anger at the Jews hardness of heart and unbelief (Mark 3:5). Mark states that Jesus became indignant when others tried to keep children from coming to him (Mark 10:14).

One of Jesus strongest human emotions was his compassion. Matthew writes about Jesus, "And seeing the multitudes, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd" (Matt 9:36). It was Jesus’ compassion which motivated Him to heal the sick (Matt 14:14). It was Jesus’ compassion which motivated Him to feed the 5,000 (Matt 15:32).

The depth of Jesus’ humility is most greatly illustrated in His, the Son of God, humbling Himself to become a man with all of the limitations of a man to live a man’s life. Jesus humility was climaxed in His obedience to the Father to the point of death on the cross. Herbert Lockyer writes, "The charge made against Him, ‘You being a man, make Yourself God,’ was literally true."^118/141 Jesus said of Himself, "the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matt 20:28).

Another evidence of Jesus’ Humanity was His reliance on the Father and the Holy Spirit as a man. Jesus could not move forward without the will of the Father and the Power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was constantly withdrawing Himself to pray for others and for himself. The man Jesus still prays for us today.

"Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors." (Is 53:12)

"These things Jesus spoke; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, he said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You." (John 17:1)

"And it was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God." (Luke 6:12)

"In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety." (Heb 5:7)

The Gospels say sixteen times that Jesus prayed, eight times the substance of the prayer is given. Six of His prayers were made during His last week before His crucifixion. The prayer of Gethsemane is mentioned in the first three Gospels.^118/143

The Gospels mention twenty times Jesus marveling which give the idea of His responding in wonder and amazement. An equal term, wonder, is mentioned twelve times giving a sense of astonishment and surprise at a strange or unusual deed or occurrence.

"And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone marveled¹³⁵." (Mark 5:20)

"And He took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be utterly-astonished¹³⁶ and troubled." (Mark 14:33)

"Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled, and said to those who were following, ‘Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.’" (Matt 8:10)

There are three references to Jesus’ amazement in Scripture: He was amazed at the faith of the centurion and the second rejection of his home Nazareth (Matt 8:10); also as He went to Gethsemane to pray He was astonished and troubled, by what the scripture does not say (Mark 14:33).

What became of the man Jesus? The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4,

"For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures"

The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ the man was crucified, killed and then buried in a tomb. But this is not the end of Jesus’ humanity. Paul also explains that He was raised from the dead three days later with a physical body that will last forever, that will never die again. Once God the Son became a man for our Salvation, He took on the human nature permanently. Jesus will always be Fully God and now also He will always be Fully Man. Jesus in His humanity now sits at the right hand of God committed forever to intercede for us before the Father. In conclusion Herbert Lockyer writes:

"Born of a human mother and dependent upon her in childhood, His body grew in stature, and His mind expanded in knowledge and wisdom. Later on, He came to speak of His body as a ‘temple’ (John 2:21). As a babe, He wore infant clothes and was held in the arms of aged Simeon, as well as in His mother’s, whose firstborn Son He was. That He was born is a historical fact millions upon millions testify to as they date their letters today. Nothing could be more explicit than the genealogical item, ‘Mary, of whom was born Jesus,’ or the declaration of Paul that Jesus became a partaker of flesh and blood (Heb 2:14; Jn 1:14). He appealed to the senses of His disciples to prove His humanity, ‘Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself’ (Luke 24:39). ‘Behold my hands... my side’ (John 20:27). Then there is John’s great confession: 1 John 1:1."^118/114

Chapter 1 of this Section titled, "Jesus’ Full Salvation For Man," explains fully the significance of why Jesus had to become fully man and how this relates to His full salvation for us. Why else is it important that we understand the full humanity of Jesus as well as his full Divinity? Without this understanding we cannot Evangelize successfully those who believe otherwise. A Christian cult is that which either denies Jesus’ full humanity or Jesus’ full Divinity. Mormon’s believe that Jesus was first a man who became a god. Jehovah Witnesses do not believe in Jesus’ divinity or His humanity. They believe he was an angel that came down from heaven. Others believe he was nothing but a good moral teacher. If we do not understand the significance of Jesus being fully God who also became fully man, we will not be able to successfully communicate this to people on the field and as a result we will not be able to bring them to Salvation in Christ. Our understanding and acceptance of Jesus being fully God and fully man are vital for successful Evangelism on the field.