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While the acts below are the acts of God what we miss in reading
the narratives of Jesus' life is that His contemporaries saw these
acts being performed by a man.
1) Jesus forgave sin committed against Himself
and against others
Luke 23:34 – Then Jesus said, "Father,
forgive them, for they do not know what they do."
Matthew 9:2-3 – Then behold, they
brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their
faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your
sins are forgiven you." 3 And at once some of the scribes said
within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!"
2) Jesus healed the sick
Matthew 14:14 – And when Jesus went out He saw
a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and
healed their sick.
3) Jesus cast out demons
Matthew 8:16 – When evening had
come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He
cast out the spirits with a word.
4) Jesus had power over nature
Mark 4:35-39 – On the same day, when evening
had come, He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other
side." 36 Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him
along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with
Him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the
boat, so that it was already filling. 38 But He was in the stern,
asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher,
do You not care that we are perishing?" 39 Then He arose and
rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!"
And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.
5) Jesus had power over the deaths of others
as well as His own
John 11:41-44 – Then they took away
the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus
lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You
have heard Me. 42 "And I know that You always hear Me, but
because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they
may believe that You sent Me." 43 Now when He had said these
things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!"
44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes,
and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose
him, and let him go."
John 10:17-18 – Therefore My Father
loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18
No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power
to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command
I have received from My Father.
6) Jesus allowed Himself to be worshipped
John 20:25-29 – So he [Thomas] said
to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails,
and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into
His side, I will not believe." 26 And after eight days His
disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the
doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace
to you!" 27 Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger
here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it
into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing." 28 And
Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"
29 Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you
have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have
believed."
The gospels make no apologies for writing of Jesus as a man for
it is primarily as a man that His intimates saw Him. Repeatedly
the comment is made by those who encountered Him "Isn't this
the son of Mary? Don't we know His brothers and sisters?" It
is not a comment along the lines of "Hey, look at that, we
know someone famous!" It is more like "How could this
person, whose family we know, put on such airs?" The problem
of His humanity is that it distracts from His Godhood. We try to
rationalize the impossible miracle of the incarnation and are unable
to do so. For me one of the single greatest proofs that humanity
and deity were combined in the person of Jesus is found this passage
from the gospel of Mark:
Mark 4:35-41 – On the same day,
when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us cross over
to the other side." 36 Now when they had left the multitude,
they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats
were also with Him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves
beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. 38 But He was
in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to
Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"
39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace,
be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.
40 But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful? How is it
that you have no faith?" 41 And they feared exceedingly, and
said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and
the sea obey Him!"
Jesus and His disciples are sailing across the Sea of Galilee in
a fishing boat. Jesus is sleeping. The boat is being overwhelmed
by a storm. The storm that is so violent that Jesus' disciples,
many of whom were professional sailors feared for their lives. The
disciples are rowing for their lives and casting desperate glances
in Jesus' direction. All the while Jesus is so exhausted that He
does not awaken. Humanity.
Jesus' disciples, having finally succeeded in awakening Him, implore
Him to save them and He speaks. Suddenly they are standing drop-jawed
as the waves that had threatened to sink their boat melt into a
dead calm and they are confronted by the slowly dawning awareness
that this happened in response to a simple command spoken by the
Man they had just woken up. Godhood.
There are many miracles in the gospels that attest to Jesus' Godhood.
There are many situations that attest to Jesus humanity. So much
of each that to disclaim either is impossible. He is either entirely
God and entirely man or He is nothing.
In one place He is both man tired from a good day's work and God
in control of every situation.
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