The Humanity of Christ

There are many things about our Saviour which we either do not know or cannot understand.

By WALTER E. MACPHERSON, M.D., President, College of Medical Evangelists, Los Angeles

There are many things about our Saviour which we either do not know or cannot understand. Things essential to our salvation are made very clear, while other points are only partially clarified. Much has been written in the Holy Scripture in regard to the character and the interpretation of the teachings of Jesus while He lived on this earth. An innumerable number of sermons have been preached on these subjects. But I should like to deviate from these particular approaches, important as they are, and present certain other qualities of Jesus, the knowledge of which is not necessarily essential to our salvation, but which will help us in accepting salvation by faith, and by belief in Him as our Saviour.

From the viewpoint of a physician I am interested in Jesus as a physical being, with particular reference to the period of time which He spent on earth. I have wondered what might have been recorded in a case history and in a report of a physical examination, with Jesus as the subject. From our knowledge of medical history we must concede that laboratory tests, such as are now used as part of a complete clinical examination, were neither known nor used in those days. Had such tests been available, what would they have shown in regard to Jesus ? In other words, from physical and physiological standpoints, would He have been much different from the average human subject of His time or of our time?

Concerning these questions, we are not left entirely ignorant or uninformed. In John I :14 we read that "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." In other words, while dwelling among us, He was in human form. All evidence, whether it is of Scriptural origin or from profane history, is in complete support of this opinion. Combining the information taken from various pertinent references in the Scripture with our present knowledge of embryology and of genetics, we must accept the fact that at the time of His conception the chromosomes were of a human quality, although divinely appointed. How the transfer from divine to human was accomplished is a complete mystery, but in support of this opinion is the answer to Mary's question to the angel: "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

... The angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee : therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Luke I :34, 35.

Apparently His prenatal life and His birth were, from a medical viewpoint, neither abnormal nor spectacular in any way, except as prophecy was fulfilled. Neither were His growth and development as a child and as a young man particularly unusual, except for the fact that He was mentally brilliant, and, as compared to most others, He lacked obvious physical abnormalities. He was accepted by most of His neighbors and the people of His home town in about the same manner as were the rest of the youth about Him.

Of course, from the time of His conception, and particularly from the time of His birth, His mother and a few others knew who He was, and recognized full well His close contact with heaven. They observed certain other unusual qualities, but to a great extent were unable to comprehend the entire situation. The Scripture makes it quite clear that the opinion that He was the Son of God was never widely accepted, either during His early life or even during the time of His active ministry.

Luke records that "the Child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon Him." Luke 2:40. The fact that Jesus lived a vigorous life and that He was physically robust cannot be denied. He was no weakling, and His health must have been good. Nevertheless, it is quite obvious that His fundamental physiological processes were similar to or identical with those of other human beings.

He required food and frequently ate with His friends. He knew how it felt to be hungry, and on one occasion, when His hunger was especially acute, the devil tried to take advantage of that fact by tempting Him to sell out His birthright, even as Esau had done many years before.

No doubt Jesus could stand up to more physical exertion and hardship than could His disciples. but many times He became unusually tired and went into seclusion in order to try to get some needed rest, or He became sleepy and took advantage of the hospitality of His friends in finding a place to "lay His head." On one occasion He was so sound in sleep in the rough bottom of a small boat that a terrific storm did not awaken Him.

Similarly, His emotional reactions were quite human, and with the added knowledge which He had concerning His identity and the purpose for which He was in the world, it is reasonable to believe that the physiological responses caused by His emotions must have been frequently unusually severe. The Scripture makes it clear that this was particularly true as the time of His public ministry began to come to a close.

Using these premises as a background, one could reasonably hypothesize that various tests and measurements would have shown that the factors which_ are now recognized as applying to human physiology would have been demonstrated in Jesus.

Up until the time He was thirty years of age He lived a reasonably average life, although much time and thought were given to preparation for the work which He was to do. Here was a young man who had divine wisdom but a human form. In view of the fact that He was limited by His humanity, the enormity of the task which lay be fore Him was almost overwhelming. The time during which His task was to be accomplished was very short, and even though it did not require the limit of His divine knowledge to perform it, it did require all the physical energy He had. Of course, we must recognize that at any time Jesus could have called all the forces of heaven to His support, but as I interpret the Scripture, He never did so, even up to and including the time of His death,

At the age of thirty, and continuing over a period of three and one-half years, Jesus lived a very active life. He went through many hardships, which in all probability could not have been with stood by men who were less robust than He.

Let us now consider some of the circumstances which presented themselves at the close of His period of ministry, and let us make a brief analysis as to the possible relationship of these circumstances to His death. Keep in mind as we proceed that Jesus' mental capacity and His ability to interpret the true significance of these circumstances were unlimited. He understood full well what was taking place and what was to occur, and He also had complete knowledge as to what the final results would be.

Keep also in mind that His ability to bear up under this terrific physical and emotional load was limited to what He as a human being could endure. Remember that Jesus, who had complete authority over life and death, and who openly admitted that He had the power to save His own life if He wanted to, did not do it. He chose to remain within the limits of human endurance, and to submit Himself to the laws of human physiology until He finally died on the cross. Here are some comprehend the significance of what He was telling them, and in anticipation of what their reactions might be when He was finally taken from them, another mental burden was added.

Later on, in His anxiety he told Peter, "Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat : but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." Luke 22:31, 32. He also told them that He was to be betrayed by one of them; and in trying to decide among themselves who would be the guilty one, their attention was diverted to another subject, and strife broke out among them as to who should be counted the greatest.—To be concluded next month.


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By WALTER E. MACPHERSON, M.D., President, College of Medical Evangelists, Los Angeles

April 1946

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