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More of Jesus
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Welcome to this week's sermon in our "More of Jesus" series. Over the past two weeks, we've explored Jesus in eternity and Jesus promised in Scripture. Today, we're looking at Jesus incarnate—Jesus in a human body, living physically on earth during the Gospel accounts.
As we consider these ten aspects of Jesus' incarnate life, I encourage you to listen carefully and simultaneously lift your hearts in worship. Let's not stop worshiping simply because we've stopped singing.
Jesus is fully God. In John's Gospel, the very first verse declares, "In the beginning was the word, the word was with God, and the word was God." But listen to John 1:14: "The word became flesh."
This doesn't mean Jesus was 50% God and 50% human. Rather, Jesus is 100% God and 100% human. The baby in the manger was actually the creator of the universe. The Son of God had a birthday. As a child, Jesus grew hungry, thirsty, and tired. He was fully human.
God became flesh in Jesus—an extraordinary mystery worth our worship.
Romans 8:3 tells us that "the Father sent the Son in the likeness of sinful flesh." Jesus is like us. Now, you might think, "Jesus is not like us because I'm a sinner and Jesus never sinned." But actually, Jesus is more fully human than we are. The original design of humanity never involved sin. Jesus is the perfect human being—he never sinned.
If you had seen Jesus walking down the street in the first century, he would have looked like other people. But this was the Son of God, fully God and fully human. Jesus experienced real humanity. He knew what it meant when things went wrong, when accidents happened, when friends died. He experienced the things we experience.
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Jesus used the title "Son of Man" more than any other way to describe himself. Sometimes it simply means "me," but Jesus began using it in a special, elevated way.
When a paralyzed man came through the roof, Jesus told the religious leaders: "The Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." Only God can forgive sins. He was claiming divine authority.
Jesus also said to the crowds: "If anyone's ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his father's glory with the holy angels." (Mark 8:38)
To understand what this means, we must turn to the Old Testament prophecy of Daniel. In Daniel 7:13-14, Daniel has a vision:
In my vision at night, I saw someone like a son of man coming on the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days, and was led into his presence. All nations and peoples of every language worshipped him.
The Jews understood this as a prophecy about a glorious Son of Man who would be worshipped by all nations.
Now, when Jesus stood trial before the Jewish council, the high priest asked him: "Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?" Jesus replied: "I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Father and coming on the clouds of heaven." He was claiming to be that glorious figure from Daniel's vision—God himself. The high priest tore his robes and cried, "Blasphemy!"
On his final journey to Jerusalem, Jesus came to a place crowded with people. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus sat by the roadside, begging. He cried out: "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"
Jesus could have said, "I'm busy; I'm on my way to Jerusalem." But he stopped. He could have simply healed Bartimaeus from a distance, but his heart went out to this man in need. Jesus is merciful. He heals with a word. That mercy is not just for the past—it's still true today. If you have needs, you can lift your heart to Jesus. He is merciful.
Jesus said these extraordinary words in Matthew 11:28-29:
Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, because I am gentle.
Jesus is offering us rest. He's offering to help us. Gentleness doesn't mean weakness; it means strength used for the good of others. When you read the Gospels, you see Jesus being gentle again and again. He didn't crush people. He wasn't harsh. He met people with gentleness and compassion.
In Luke 4, Jesus spent 40 days and 40 nights in the desert, fasting and choosing not to eat. Luke 4:2 tells us that Jesus was hungry—genuinely hungry. The devil came and tempted him: "If you're the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."
It was a real temptation. Jesus was a human being with genuine needs. But he knew it wasn't right to do this at that moment, and he simply said, "No." Jesus was always self-controlled. He went to parties and enjoyed feasting, but never regretted it the next morning. He had deep, genuine friendships with people, but his desires never got the better of him. He always maintained perfect self-control—something we often struggle with, but Jesus exemplified perfectly.
Before his arrest, Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane. Three times he asked his Father: "Take this cup away from me."
What is this cup? To understand, we must go back to the prophet Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 25:15, God says:
Take in your hand this cup which is full of the wine of God's wrath.
The cup is a picture of God's anger against sin. Jesus knew that when he went to the cross, he would drink that cup—God's wrath against our sin would fall upon him. He would take the punishment that we deserve.
That's why Jesus asked three times for the cup to be taken away. Three times the answer was no. There was no other way for us to be forgiven. For our sins to be pardoned, a perfect human being had to take our sin upon his shoulders and die in our place. Only Jesus could do that.
Then Jesus said to God his Father: "Not my will, but your will." He went to the cross and died for our sins as atonement—literally, "at-one-ment." God and human beings are separated because we are sinners and he is holy. Jesus died to restore that broken relationship. We are made "at one" with God through his sacrifice.
Peter, who spent three years with Jesus, wrote about him in 1 Peter 2:24:
He bore our sins in his body on the cross.
When Jesus died on the cross, all our sins were put upon his shoulders. Your sins, my sins, everybody's sins—he bore them all and took the punishment.
This is why the cross is so central to the Christian faith. At the cross, Jesus paid the price for our sins. He bore our sins in his body.
Many people think a Christian is simply someone who goes to church, helps others, or gives to charity. Those are good things, but they don't make you a Christian. A Christian is someone who says: "I believe Jesus died for me. He bore my sins in his body on the cross."
Paul wrote to the church in Colossae about what Jesus' death achieved. A crucifixion looks like defeat—a naked man nailed to a cross, mocked and laughed at, then dead. But it is actually a victory.
In Colossians 2:13, Paul writes: "God forgave us all our sins." Six stunning words. Through Jesus' death, God accomplished something incredible.
Moreover, in Colossians 2:15, Paul declares that Jesus triumphed over evil powers through the cross. The cross isn't a defeat; it's a victory. Because now there is a way home. Now people like you and me can be forgiven. We can be welcomed back to God. We can be God's friends now and forever because Jesus died and rose again.
Jesus said: "The Son of Man didn't come to be served, but to serve." (Mark 10:45)
Consider the context of the Last Supper. Jesus had just shared bread and wine with his disciples, telling them these symbols represented his body and blood—given so they could be forgiven and be God's friends forever. He had said one of the most profound things they could hear.
But immediately after, the disciples started arguing about who was the greatest disciple. Imagine how Jesus must have felt.
He asked them a question: "Who is greater? The one who sits at the table or the one who serves?" The obvious answer is the one sitting at the table. But then Jesus said:
I am among you as one who serves. (Luke 22:27)
This doesn't mean Jesus sometimes served. It means Jesus was always serving. When he healed a leper, he was serving. When he washed his disciples' feet, he was serving. When he died on the cross, he was serving us—giving his life so we could be forgiven.
Jesus said the complete thought in Mark 10:45:
The Son of Man didn't come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
A ransom is a price paid to set people free. Jesus died so we could be set free from God's punishment for our sins.
This is Jesus incarnate—Jesus living on earth as a human being. This is who Jesus is. This is what Jesus is like.
If you're already a Christian, if you've turned from your sins and put your trust in Jesus, this is your Jesus.
If you haven't yet turned to Jesus, if you haven't yet said, "I believe that you did all this for me; please come into my life, be my savior, be my Lord, and be my friend"—you can do it this evening. Come and talk to me, or speak with someone else about it.
Jesus is wonderful. He came into our world. He, the eternal Son of God, took humanity upon himself and became fully human. He is the atonement. He drank the cup of God's anger at sin. He bore our sins in his body on the cross. He is victorious. He is the servant.
May we worship him and follow him, trusting him this week and every day.
