Jesus: More Than Human

This writing is to support the apologetic argument that Jesus wasn’t just a mere man, but he was also divine in nature.  Ecclesiastes 8:8 says “…no man hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death”.  This scripture informs us of the weakness and inability of mankind.  A man doesn’t have power or control over the spirit that makes him alive, nor does man have power to prevent death from coming to him.  But with Jesus this wasn’t the case.  In John 10:17-18, Jesus claims to have power over his life saying “…I lay down my life, to take it up again… no man can take my life, but I lay it down of myself…”  This explains why there were many occasions that the Pharisees and Jews tried to arrest and kill Jesus but they failed because it wasn’t HIS time or his hour had not come (Jn 7:30, 8:20; Lk 22:53).  What’s more intriguing is that every gospel account agrees with Jesus’s claim.  When Jesus was on the cross, every gospel writer records something that emphatically agrees with Jesus claim (Matt 27:50; Mk 15:37; Lk 23:46; Jn 19:30).  Matthew and John both state that Jesus “yielded” or “gave up his spirit”.  Luke and Mark both say he breathed his last.  In the Greek, all of these statements are aorist indicative active verbs, which simply mean that it was a past occurrence that the writers witnessed or heard and they are stating it as an actual fact.  But most important, the active voice of this verb means that Jesus actually stopped himself from breathing for our sakes.  He literally demonstrated control and power over his death in willingly breathing his last, and entrusting his spirit to his Father.  This means so much for the gospel message; Jesus was truly GOD in the flesh.  He was not just a man, but he being GOD the SON assumed a fleshly body prepared for him.  The average man would’ve died after being scourged as long as Jesus was.  But Jesus loving us so much, retained his spirit and held back his death, that he could endure all that pain & suffering and be lifted up on the Cross of Calvary and ultimately atone for mankind’s sins…  That’s what makes him worthy to be loved, believed, hoped in, and praised.  Thank GOD for the willingness in Jesus the Christ to GIVE his life for mankind.

Amen

Ron Evans