Jesus the Man – Revisited and Updated

Sometimes, especially when we read about Jesus in the Gospels, what He specifically did or what He specifically said, we forget that Jesus was human, a man, with flesh and blood, like you and I. Oh, I know, Jesus is no ordinary man, but there are some who think that is all that He was.

Yet, as we read through the Gospels and we encounter Jesus, the things that He taught us, the realities that He explained and the things that He did, it behooves us to consider not only what He explained but also how, what He said and what He did, flies in the face of what an ordinary man would do. How in actuality, it confirms, time and time again, exactly who the Gospels declare that He is, the only begotten Son of God.

There are of course, the miracles, where He healed people, and where it is testified to that He was able to command the elements and defy the laws of physics, both during His ministry and after, when He appeared to the Apostles and disciples for the 40 day period after His resurrection. But in this particular post I will focus only on one event that is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew. The thing is, there are so many sequence of events to actually choose from within the Gospels, where this departure from the expected norm, from a ordinary man, are readily displayed in the Gospels. This is really, just the tip of the iceberg, but then you’d have to truly look at what Jesus did and consider what He said, to actually see that.

In Matthew 24 NASB we see it recorded that the disciples asked Jesus about when He would return at the end of the age. This question, that was put to Jesus, takes place a couple of days before He is arrested and is crucified. You can read about this in Matthew 26 NASB. Matthew 26 is where Jesus tells them what will transpire very shortly, how He will be arrested and be put to death. Matthew 24 is where Jesus tells the disciples about what will happen to their beloved Temple and explains the “birth pangs” that will precede His return, plus a good number of particulars about what will actually happen just before the whole sequence of events of His return unfolds.

Consider if you will, that this question about Jesus’ return is put to Jesus a couple of days before He is arrested. Jesus foretold them about the Temple being destroyed in 70 CE by the Romans, Jesus foretells them about His arrest, and death and resurrection before either of these events actually happen. And He also foretells them about some of the conditions that His followers will experience prior to His return.

Two days before.

Even if you put aside the fact that Jesus tells them about His own pending death, why would any ordinary man go to the bother of explaining to others about what would happen to the Temple and why would He also go to the bother of telling them about His return, if in fact, He knew that He was going to die, like an ordinary man. Obviously, none of this would matter and if Jesus was just an ordinary man, He of all people would know that.

But what does Jesus do? Not only does He answer their question and provide additional information about the Temple, that they did not even ask about, but He also points out, during His arrest, in Matthew 26:54 that “How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?” Did you notice that word “must”?

What did Jesus know that the Jews of His time had missed? And bear in mind that knowing it alone was insufficient to bring it into actuality, unless of course, Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, as promised within the Scriptures.

And then we have the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, after three days, something again that He clearly foretold. Matthew 17:22-23, Mark 9:30-32 and Matthew 20:17-19 refers.

Does this sound like something that an ordinary man would do, the ordinary man knowing full well, the limitations of a normal ordinary man?

Nope. Not even close.

Ordinary men know that when they die, they are not coming back to life again, especially after being dead for three days. So why explain what would happen to the Temple, His own death and resurrection plus the particulars about His return, if none of these things were going to happen?

And how important is the resurrection of Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah? It’s important enough that the whole message that Jesus brought to us depends on it, as the Apostle Paul clearly states in 1 Corinthians 15:3-19 NASB, that our faith is totally useless if this fact, did in fact, not take place.

Do you think Jesus knew this? I’m pretty sure He did, matter of fact, I’m more than sure. Was Jesus a man? Yes He was, but far from ordinary. He knew it and we who believe also know it.

There is a verse in Matthew 24 where Jesus says the following:

“Behold, I have told you in advance.“(Matthew 24:25).

Jesus told them and us about what would happen to the Temple. Jesus told them and us about His own death and resurrection and Jesus told them and us about His return as Lord of Lords and King of Kings, all before it happened.

• Jesus was crucified and rose again from the dead.
• The Temple was destroyed exactly as He said.
• Jesus will return, exactly as He said He will.

Nothing that Jesus did, nothing that Jesus said, was ordinary during His ministry or His death and resurrection. Nothing. There’s a reason for that. Jesus is the only begotten Son of God. Ephesians 1:3-14 NASB refers. Please take the time to read it.

John 1:14 NASB  “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” That’s a beautiful statement that the Apostle John makes. And what John says, encapsulates it all, doesn’t it? It’s mind boggling when you stop to really think about it.

John 14:9 NASB: “Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? The one who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Emphasis is mine. And who else could dare to actually say this? No one, no one but Jesus!

Worthy is the Lamb! Blessings!