How human was Jesus? I’m of the opinion that most Christians see Jesus as some kind of “Super Human”. I don’t believe that. I believe He was fully God but totally emptied of any Godlike powers, and totally vulnerable to all the temptations, trials, and even the potential for sin to which every one of us is subject to. My conviction is that what He learned of God during His first thirty years came from His human ability to study and learn from Scripture. He was extremely bright! But, at age thirty, He received a divine link (Luke 3:22) through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus learned everything needed to guide Him into truth and to resist the devil so that Satan would flee from Him. To my point, I don’t believe that it was accidental that the first place which Jesus was led after being filled with the Holy Spirit was to battle and defeat the devil (Luke 4: 1-13).

Jesus was born sinless, not of Adam’s blood. At His physical birth, He was at the same point every human is when we are “born again”. Jesus however did not have the disadvantage of having His mental capacity indoctrinated by a sin mentality which we acquire before we are “born again”. Then, through the same process Jesus experienced, we obtain supernatural power and knowledge. He received it when He was filled with the Holy Spirit. Why do I think that He had no special advantage? Philippians 2:6-8 explains it. The worst translation of this I have seen is in the King James Version of the Bible. Most newer translations make it much clearer: “Though He was in the form of God, He chose not to cling to equality with God; But He poured Himself out to fill a vessel brand new; a servant in form and a man indeed. The very likeness of humanity, He humbled Himself, obedient to death—a merciless death on the cross!”(Voice) Also, in Hebrews 5:8, “Although He was a Son, Jesus learned obedience through the things He suffered.”(Voice) Jesus suffered the temptations of the devil, rejections of man, and a corrupted religious system. He learned that by resisting, He could conquer. I do not believe He even had foreknowledge of His God directed mission to deliver humanity. He learned His mission by the revelation of the Holy Spirit through faith; the same manner available to us: “The Spirit of truth will come and guide you in all truth. He will not speak His own words to you; He will speak what He hears, revealing to you the things to come and bringing glory to Me. The Spirit has unlimited access to Me, to all that I possess and know, just as everything the Father has is Mine. That is the reason I am confident He will care for My own and reveal the path to you.” John 16:13-15 (Voice). The problem is that this form of communion with God was not available to us until after the cross. We were still in sin. That’s why Jesus would pray alone.

To put it simply, Jesus went to the cross, not by any kind of prior knowledge. He went through the simple act of faith. His only certainty was His faith. He was very human in this, that is why: “And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.’ Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” (NKJV) Jesus did not get His human prayer answered with a reprieve, but served the greater good for our sake by enduring the shame, rejection and loneliness of the cross. That’s why if we are filled with the Holy Spirit and faith we can endure anything!