The Humanity and Divinity of Jesus: A Study of His Ancestry, Life, and Miracles, Study Guides, Projects, Research of German

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Chapter 6:

Jesus’ Life Reveals

His Mission

©Ave Maria Press

The Son of God

Humbled Himself

God’s love for us

is so great that he

took on the frailty

of humanity in

order to save us

from our sin.

The Humanity of Jesus

The Word became

flesh and made his

dwelling among us.

The Gospels of Matthew and Luke

remind us that Jesus is firmly rooted

in the human family by each

presenting a detailed genealogy for

Jesus and his family tree.

These genealogies are records of the human

ancestors of Jesus. Each one makes statements

about what is important in his human origins.

Writing to different audiences, Matthew

and Luke each emphasize different things

about Jesus’ family history that illustrate

what they believe about him.

Matthew also, however, included some details that were not typical for a genealogy directed to his audience.

The Evangelist lists five women in the ancestry of Jesus. Female ancestors would not normally be a concern for a Jewish audience. Also, some of the women Matthew includes had backgrounds that might cause concern for his readers.

Perhaps Matthew included Tamar, Rahab, Bathsheba, Ruth, and Mary to show that God is a God of surprises. He chooses whomever he wants to be his instruments, even if they do not fit people’s expectations—as Jesus did in choosing his apostles.

Luke wrote for a Gentile-Christian audience, so what he emphasizes in his genealogy of Jesus is quite different from Matthew’s.

Instead of focusing on the Hebrew kings and tracing Jesus’ lineage only as far back as Abraham, the father of the Hebrews, Luke’s genealogy goes all the way back to Adam—the first human being. Luke is making the point that Jesus is truly human; son of Adam, the ancestor of all human beings; but also, Son of God.

Before his public ministry, Jesus worked as a carpenter—the trade he learned from his foster father, Joseph.

Matthew 13:55 tells us that Jesus was known as “the carpenter’s son,” and Mark 6:3 identifies Jesus as “the carpenter, the son of Mary.”

Jesus also used many metaphors from the carpentry trade in his teaching.

The images Jesus chose of building towers, wine presses, storage barns, and homes with a good foundation show not only an understanding of the trade, but also an appreciation for the importance of hard work.

When he was accidentally left in the Temple as a boy, he was found later, amazing the priests and scribes with his knowledge of God’s word.

There would have been much emphasis on memorization in Jesus’ education, and he clearly learned the Scriptures well.

The Gospels are full of passages in which Jesus quotes from the Old Testament, and gives interpretations of the Scriptures that astound his listeners.

Jesus had an intimate knowledge of the Scriptures.

Jesus encountered physical hunger and thirst, fatigue, pain, and every other experience that comes with possessing a human body—even death.

The Gospels, especially the Passion Narratives, make it clear that Jesus had a human body.

Like all human beings, Jesus’ intellect

enabled him to reason, learn, and reflect

upon his emotions. His will allowed him to

choose between good and evil.

The human soul, or spirit, has two

faculties: intellect and free will.

We must realize that Jesus had emotions and

made choices. His experience of humanity

was like ours in all things but sin.

Jesus was tempted at other times as well. Certainly, one of the greatest temptations Jesus faced was to turn away from his mission during the terrible time of his passion and crucifixion.

In the exercise of our intellect and

will, something all human beings

experience is temptation.

There are things that, even as the Son of God, Jesus did not know. To be truly human, his intellect had to be like that of all other human beings. But as Jesus responded perfectly to his Father’s will, his human knowledge grew to attain a fullness of understanding of the eternal plan of Salvation.

Jesus also had a human intellect. The Gospels tell us that he grew in wisdom and knowledge—revealing that his human knowledge was not unlimited.