This is the second of three articles that unpack the Biblical truths that Jesus is fully God, he is fully man, and he is also both fully God and fully man at the same time.
If Jesus Christ is fully God, it can immediately raise the honest question: “How can a God like that possibly understand someone like me?”
In the incarnation, Scripture answers with one of the most extraordinary truths of the Christian faith: Jesus is fully man.
Not partly. Not symbolically. Not God pretending to be human. But God taking on human nature (John 1:14; Heb. 2:14–18).
Meditating on the humanity of Jesus does not merely make us say, “I understand the incarnation.”
It is good news that makes us sigh with relief and say, “Jesus actually understands me.”
1. His Condescension: He Became Like Us
Hebrews 2:14 says, “Since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things.” Verse 17 adds, “He had to be made like his brothers in every respect…”
Jesus condescended in his incarnation. Condescension sounds negative—as if someone is talking down to us. But historically, it means to willingly step down.
In the humanity of Jesus, that is exactly what God did.
He stepped down, from heavenly glory into human weakness; from majesty into hunger, tiredness, emotion, fear, and pain.
He did not enter our world as a visitor observing humanity.
He became fully human—a baby who cried, a boy who grew, a man who hungered, wept, felt exhaustion, faced temptation, and experienced wounds.
Dr. Isaac Santra, an Indian physician in the early 1900s, dedicated his life to treating leprosy patients—people whom society and even hospitals rejected. For years, he cycled 24 km daily to reach them. Eventually, feeling the weight of distance, he moved into the leprosy colony. He did not love them from far away; he lived among them, ate with them, and shared in their rejection.
This story does not capture the incarnation perfectly, but hints at it.
Jesus did not merely move into a leper colony. He moved into our world of sin and suffering (Matt. 4:1-11, John 11:35).
In taking on humanity, he never stopped being God. He started being a man.
And now, you never need to say, “God doesn’t understand what it’s like to be me” (Job 10:4).
Because he does.
2. His Propitiation: He Died in Our Place
Hebrews 2:17 says Jesus became human “to make propitiation for the sins of the people.”
Propitiation means someone absorbs the judgment of God so another may go free.
During World War II, Ernest Gordon witnessed a moment in a Japanese POW camp that marked him for life. After a day of forced labour, a guard counted the tools. One shovel seemed missing. Enraged, he shouted, “If the man who took it does not step forward, all of you will be killed.”
After a long silence, one Scottish prisoner stepped forward. The guard beat him to death on the spot. The next day, when they counted the tools, none were missing. The guard had simply miscounted earlier.
God is not a heartless guard, Jesus is not a powerless prisoner, and we are not innocent people.
All attempts to understand the incarnation and propitiation tend to fall short. But they hint at the beauty and mystery of it.
Only a human can die for humans.
Only a sinless human could die for sinners.
And Jesus alone fits both descriptions.
He did not die as a martyr or a mere example. He died as a substitute.
His humanity makes his sacrifice possible. His sinlessness makes it effective.
Without a fully human Jesus, there is no salvation. But because he became a man, there is hope for every sinner who calls on his name.
3. His Service: He Helps Us Today
The humanity of Jesus does not merely reveal his past work. It also marks his present work.
Hebrews 2:18 says, “Because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”
Not “was able.”
Not “helped”—as if in the past.
But “he is able”—as if right now.
Present tense grace. Present tense power.
He Understands our Temptation
Many people imagine Jesus disappointed with their weaknesses. The humanity of Jesus teaches the opposite. He sympathises and understands.
Some may wonder if Jesus truly knows how strong their temptation can be.
C. S. Lewis makes the point that a man who gives in after five minutes of temptation does not know what it is like to resist for an hour. Jesus resisted temptation for an entire lifetime—and never sinned. Only he knows the full weight of temptation.
Since we sometimes give in to temptation, we only feel a portion of the weight of temptation. But since Jesus never gave in, he alone has felt the full weight of it.
So you can take heart.
He is not surprised by your struggle.
He is not distant from your weakness.
His heart moves toward you, not away.
Present-Tense Power
Hebrews 4:15–16 declares that our High Priest sympathises with our weaknesses and invites us to draw near for mercy and grace “in time of need.”
This is present-tense power.
Because Jesus knows what human struggle feels like, he supplies real strength to face it (2 Cor. 12:9).
As Thomas Goodwin wrote, “The heart of Christ is drawn out most tenderly toward his people in their weakness.”
Jesus is not only the sacrifice who forgives your past, he is the power who strengthens your present.
So take a moment to ask yourself.
If Jesus became fully man so he could fully save you, why keep him at a distance?
If he stepped into your humanity, why pretend you can manage life alone?
Since he carried your sin, why carry your shame?
Now that he is able to help you in temptation, why keep fighting it by yourself?
Jesus is not merely God above you or God near you.
He is God with us, and God as one of us.
