In His Name Devotionals
JESUS WAS ONE OF US
In His Name Devotionals
JESUS WAS ONE OF US
“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13, NASB)
The things our precious Lord said and did while on earth—His relationships with others—express His exalted humanity. Consider a few of many examples.
Our Lord and Savior felt love. “And looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him” (Mark 10:21, NASB).
Compassion was a hallmark of His personal ministry. He had compassion on a man with leprosy, and on a large crowd of sick people. When He saw the harassed, helpless, and wandering crowds, He had compassion on them. He spoke of feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, showing hospitality to strangers, providing clothes for the naked, and visiting those in prison. He also pointed out that those with hardened hearts would come to a bad end (Matthew 25:34- 46). It would be difficult to imagine His ministry without compassion.
Jesus knew anger. In Mark 3:1-6 (NASB), He looked at them “with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart...” because their religious conviction left no place for compassion. They were wrong. He was right. They had hard hearts. He had compassion.
Our Savior demonstrated curiosity. When Jesus saw Martha’s grief at the loss of Lazarus, He asked, “Where have you laid Him?” (John 11:35). As He came to the tomb, He wept (v. 35). Walter Howard wrote that “the evangelist describes [Jesus’] sorrow in the tenderest description of His human nature to be found in all the Gospels, ‘Jesus wept.’” How true! However, not least among the shining clues in this wonderful passage that Jesus was one of us, is the Lord’s innocent and childlike question: “Where have you laid him?”
The humanity of Jesus—His manhood—was not a clever facade. It was as real and true as His deity. “For I gave you an example that you also do as I did to you” (John 13:5, NASB).
