This week Pastor Josh continues our Advent Lessons series by exploring the human nature of Jesus in Luke 2:41-52. We see why it’s critical that Jesus is fully human, and how he teaches us to be human.
- Christmas is that strange time where we celebrate the fact that God embraced vulnerability and frailty by taking on a human nature in Jesus.
- It is critical that Jesus is actually human. He is meant to represent us for our redemption, and there is no representation without likeness. A mostly human Jesus is useless to us. He must be fully human.
- We also learn lessons on how to be human from Jesus. First, we learn that it is good to embrace the limits and constraints of normal humanity. God willingly took on humanity, which means we should stop trying to escape it.
- Second, we learn that the physical body is sacred. Jesus still has a body, which means we have something in common with the one on the throne of the universe. This gives our bodies dignity, and we should treat them as such.
COMMUNITY GROUP QUESTIONS:
- Part of the wonder of Christmas is the truth that God willingly became a vulnerable human being. This humility of God is meant to make us worship. How does it move your heart to worship God seeing the incarnation? How does his humility make you want to love him more?
- It is critical that Jesus is an actual human being, with a fully human nature. Jesus is meant to be our representative for our redemption, and there is no representation without likeness. If someone was to ask you the importance of Jesus’s human nature, how would you answer it?
- Jesus’s human nature also teaches us how to be human. One lesson we learn is that it is good to embrace the normal limits and constraints of humanity. God became human, but he did not become superhuman. God taking on humanity means we should stop trying to escape it. How are you currently living beyond your limits? What are ways you need to follow Jesus by embracing limits?
- Because of the incarnation, the physical body is sacred. Jesus still has a body today, and he is sitting on the throne of the universe. This means we share something in common with the King. That’s a sacred and dignifying reality. How are you tempted to have a low-view of the body? In what ways do you need to respect, steward, or embrace your physical body like Jesus did?