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Scripture Reading: Matt. 3:15; 4:4, 7, 10; 8:20; 11:29; 12:19-20; 17:27; 20:28; 21:27; 26:63-64; 27:12, 14; Mark 1:35; 3:20-21; 6:31, 39-40; John 6:12; 7:6, 46; 11:33, 35, 38; 13:4-5
The four Gospels give us a full picture of the Lord Jesus from four directions. I believe we all know that Matthew reveals the Lord Jesus as the King. Mark shows us a picture of Him as the Slave, the Servant of God. Luke portrays the Lord Jesus as the perfect man. The last Gospel, John, reveals that Christ is God Himself; He is the Son of God. So from these four Gospels we obtain four words: King, Servant, man, and God. The Lord Jesus is so much! He is the King; He is the Servant; He is the man; and He is also the very God. But what He is in all these directions and aspects depends upon His humanity. That is why in all the Gospels there are verses concerning His humanity.
Let me illustrate in this way. Among the types in the Old Testament, there is the Ark made of wood overlaid with gold. The wood, not the gold, is the frame of the Ark. The gold gives the beauty, the worth, and the value, but the gold is not the frame. The gold is the decoration upon the wood. The frame and the main basic structure that holds and supports the gold is the wood. In typology, wood signifies humanity; hence, this wood of the Ark signifies the humanity of Christ. The humanity of Christ is the basic structure that supports the gold of the Ark.
The tabernacle is built with forty-eight wooden boards, which are the frame of the tabernacle. This means that the humanity of Jesus is the frame of the tabernacle. If He were not a proper man, He could never be the King, the Servant, and the perfect man. The very God revealed in John is not God alone but a God-man; He is God in man. But if Jesus were not a perfect man, how could God be incarnated in Him? If Jesus were not perfect and God was incarnated in Him, God would be depreciated and lose His value. The divine value, however, is complemented by a perfect humanity. It is a complete, solid, and perfect humanity in which God can be contained in a full way. Even for Jesus to be God requires the humanity of Jesus. If He were not a perfect man, He could never be the King, the Servant, the man, or the very God incarnated in a man. All these aspects of the Lord Jesus depend upon His humanity.
How we need such a humanity today in the church life! We have already seen that the Ark is a type of Christ, and the tabernacle is a type of the church. The tabernacle is the enlargement of the Ark. In the same way, today the church is the enlargement of Christ. If it is necessary for Christ to have such a humanity to be God’s testimony, then we as the church also need the same strong and perfect humanity.
Wood is the basic structure of the Ark, and wood is also the main structure of the tabernacle. Hence, it is the humanity of Jesus that is the main structure of Christ as God’s testimony, and it is the humanity of Jesus that is the basic structure of the church life. If we do not have this humanity, as typified by acacia wood, it is impossible for us to have a proper church as the Body of Christ. For the real building up of the Body of Christ in our locality, we all need the humanity of Jesus. There is only one kind of wood that is good for the structure of both the Ark and the tabernacle — that is acacia wood. And there is only one kind of humanity that is good for God’s testimony today in the local church life — that is the humanity of Jesus.
Our humanity is not good for God’s building. Many of us may be good, but regardless of how good we are, our humanity is of no use. It may be useful for many other things but not for the church life. For the building up of the Ark and the tabernacle, there is only one kind of wood that is useful — that is the acacia wood, the humanity of Jesus.
Many people today say that all we need is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the outpouring from above. That is wonderful, but consider yourself: what kind of humanity do you have? The Spirit is typified by the gold, but this is not the basic structure. The basic structure is the wood. Suppose we were going to build a tabernacle and had tons of gold, yet the wood we used was rotten. That tabernacle would not stand. Regardless of how much gold we have, without the proper wood, we can never build a tabernacle. I have seen people praying, seeking, and crying for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and eventually they received it, but their building fell apart. It was not due to the gold but to the poor quality of the wood. This is the thing that is neglected by today’s Christianity. Today’s Christians pay much attention to the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but where is the proper humanity? The tabernacle as a type of the church was not built purely with the gold. It was built with the wood as the main structure. The gold was just a kind of decoration. Of course, without the overlaying gold, there would be little value or beauty. The wood alone is not of much worth. But although the value is in the gold, gold is not the main structure. The gold requires something solid to support it. That is the proper, solid, strong, and perfect humanity. Do we have such a humanity? We do not have it in ourselves, but we have it in Christ. He is the perfect humanity within us.
If we would pray-read all the verses in Matthew concerning the Lord’s humanity, we would see the humanity it takes to be a king. Many years ago, a Christian teacher argued with me, saying that we will all be kings when the Lord comes back. But I asked, “Brother, look at yourself. Could you be a king?” Do you believe that we can be so sloppy in our humanity now, yet when the Lord Jesus returns, He will suddenly make us a king? Such teachings are nonsense.
All that the Lord is in His person depends upon His humanity. Look at the verses in Matthew. John the Baptist was baptizing in the Jordan. Even John saw that there was no need for Jesus to be baptized. He was the Son of God. Nevertheless, Jesus said, “Permit it for now, for it is fitting for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness” (3:15). We must be so right with God in whatever He wants. Sometimes we, and especially the younger brothers and sisters, think that it may be necessary for others to do certain things but not us. However, Jesus in effect said to John, “Regardless of who I am, as long as I am a man in this age, I must be baptized by you. This is what God is doing today. As long as I am living in this day of God’s dispensation, I must go along with God’s righteousness.” This is the humanity of Jesus. We should never consider ourselves an exception. We need to fulfill all the righteousness of God.
After His baptism the man Jesus was led up into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Satan is so subtle. He said, “If You are the Son of God...” But the Lord immediately answered, “Man shall not live on bread alone” (4:3-4). In effect, the Lord said to Satan, “Do not put Me in the position of the Son of God. I am here as a man. If I am here as the Son of God, how could I be tempted by you? I can be tempted only because I am a man. Undoubtedly, I am the Son of God, but I am not standing in that position; I am standing here as a man.”
Then the subtle one brought Him to the wing of the temple and said, “If You are the Son of God, cast Yourself down; for it is written, ‘To His angels He shall give charge concerning You, and on their hands they shall bear You up, lest You strike Your foot against a stone.’ Jesus said to him, Again it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord your God’” (vv. 6-7). Jesus told him that as a man He would never tempt God. Finally, Satan even attempted to persuade the Lord to worship him by offering Him the kingdoms of the world. But Jesus answered, “Go away, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve’” (v. 10). The Lord kept Himself continually in the position of man.
There is one more interesting matter in these verses concerning the temptation in the wilderness. Satan tempted the Lord Jesus by quoting Psalm 91. Even Satan can quote the Bible. But the Lord answered, “Again, it is written.” It is not a matter of quoting one passage of Scripture. There must be another for confirmation. This is the humanity of Jesus, quoting Scripture not in an isolated way but in the way of confirmation.
Matthew 8:20 says, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of heaven have roosts, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” As a man the Lord was not so comfortable all the time. Let us apply it in this way. Suppose five brothers move into an apartment with three bedrooms. Who will take the one bedroom for himself? If we seek a way to get the single bedroom for ourselves, that means that we are taking the humanity of foxes, not the humanity of Jesus. If we really take the Lord as our humanity, we will have no desire for the single bedroom. So many times we simply follow the foxes and birds of the air. The humanity that likes to have the fox’s hole is of no use for the church life. Only the life that is willing to have nowhere to lay its head is good for the church. This is the humanity of Jesus, and this is the proper way to build up God’s dwelling place. We all need such a humanity.
Later on in Matthew the Lord Jesus says, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart” (11:29). Jesus did not say that He was meek and lowly in appearance, but in heart. Many times we may appear so meek and lowly, but within we are high and proud. This can never build up the church life. Our own humanity can only give an appearance, but we have His humanity within us that is meek and lowly in heart. We should not imitate Him; if we do, we will fail. We must simply feed upon Him as the meal offering. This is wonderful! This perfect humanity can be our food. Then we will live by what we eat. His humanity will become our person.
In Matthew 12:19-20 there is a quotation from Isaiah: “He will not strive nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench until He brings forth justice unto victory.” I really like these two verses. The Lord’s humanity is so fine, never striving or crying out or making His voice famous in the streets. Many times we like for people to hear our voice. But this is not the Lord’s humanity. Moreover, He would never break a bruised reed, nor would He quench smoking flax. To understand this, we must see something of the background of the Jewish people.
In the days of the Old Testament, the Jewish children made music pipes out of reeds. But when the reed was bruised, it would not produce proper music, so they would break it. Some of us may be bruised reeds that do not produce proper music. But Hallelujah, the Lord Jesus will never break such a bruised reed!
The Jews in the Old Testament days also used flax soaked with oil for a torch to give light at night. When the torch ran out of oil, it did not give light anymore; it only smoked. Then the user would quench it and throw it away. But Jesus would never do this. Many times some believers are “smoking” because they have run out of oil. Our tendency is to throw them away, but the humanity of Jesus would not. How we need such a humanity in the church life!
We all love the pipe that makes beautiful music. But if someone is a bruised reed that makes a bad sound, we just say, “Break it.” We like one brother because he is so bright and shining, but we do not like another because he is so smoky. This is why many times we are not able to hold the younger and weaker ones. We really need the humanity of Jesus not to break the bruised reeds and not to quench the smoking flax. The Lord’s humanity loves all the bruised and smoking ones. We must have His humanity in the church life. By eating Jesus, we can partake of His humanity.
We are all familiar with the story in Matthew 17. Since Jesus was the Son of God, He was free from the tax paid to God’s temple. He made this clear to Peter. Then Jesus said, “But that we do not stumble them, go to the sea and cast a hook, and take the first fish that comes up. And when you open its mouth, you will find a stater; take that and give it to them for Me and you” (v. 27). Jesus was very flexible. He did not have to pay the temple tax, but lest He should offend, He paid it. He made the situation clear to His disciples, but He did not insist. He was clear, yet He exercised Himself in such a flexible way. This is His humanity.
Our humanity is completely different from this. Both the older and the younger ones always insist on their own way. Only the humanity of Jesus can be so flexible. I was in a place recently where both the older saints and the younger saints came to me. The older ones said that they could not tolerate the young people because they were too bold, too loud, and too wild. Perhaps the young people were indeed inclined that way. But do you know what I told the older ones? I said, “You may be right, and they may be wrong, but the Lord Jesus still loves them. Don’t you think that it is much better for them to praise the Lord in this way than to go to the movies?” They had to agree that this was right from that point of view. I encouraged them to be a little flexible and to say some Hallelujahs with the crazy young people.
Then I turned to the young people. They had told me that the older ones were so dead; therefore, I told them that they needed the older ones for a balance. Without the older ones they would be like a car without brakes. So they agreed to be also a little flexible and to accept the balance from the older ones. Not long ago I received a report from that place. The church life there is now so wonderful. We were told that there is wonderful coordination among the older ones and the younger ones. Both groups had learned to be flexible.
This is the humanity of Jesus. As the Son of God He was absolutely right in not paying anything to the temple, yet He paid. Furthermore, He not only paid for Himself but also for Peter in order not to offend the people. In the church life we must learn never to insist on anything but to be flexible. Then we will not offend others. This is the humanity of Jesus.
In Matthew 20:28 the Lord said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.” So many, especially some of the young people who are living together, want to be served, but they never serve. They do not clean the house; they do not wash the dishes; they do not take care of their clothing; they do not do anything. They just like to sleep, rest, and enjoy life among the brothers and sisters. This is not the humanity for the church life. The humanity for the church life is one to serve, not to be served. We even have to serve at the cost of our life. We need such a spirit to serve others. This can come only from the humanity of Jesus.
When the Lord Jesus came to Jerusalem for the last time, the chief priests and the elders asked Him where He got the authority to do the things that He was doing. The Lord Jesus was a proper man; He did not answer them. Sometimes it is better not to answer but to turn the question to the one who asks. This is what Jesus did. He asked them whether the baptism of John was from heaven or from men. If they answered Him, He would tell them where He got His authority. So they reasoned together and realized that if they were to say that John’s baptism was from heaven, He would ask why they did not believe him. And if they were to say that John’s baptism was from men, the people would stone them because all believed that John was a prophet. So their best answer was to tell a lie. Therefore, they answered, “We do not know. He too said to them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things” (21:27). By this the Lord indicated that it was not that they did not know but that they did not want to tell Him. They lied, but He would not lie. Because they would not tell Him, neither would He tell them. He had such a humanity.
When He was being judged before His crucifixion, the high priest asked whether or not He was the Son of God. The Lord Jesus replied, “You have said rightly. Nevertheless I say to you, From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven” (26:64). At the beginning of the book of Matthew, the Lord took His standing as a man, and at the end of the book, He still stood as a man. He said that the Son of Man would sit in the heavens at the right hand of God, and the Son of Man would come on the clouds of heaven. He will be the Son of Man forever. He will never leave this standing.
Later, when He was accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing. They all marveled greatly at Him. “While He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing...And He did not answer him, not even to one word, so that the governor marveled greatly” (27:12, 14). Many times if we would be quiet, others would marvel at us. We make ourselves cheap by talking too much. The more we talk, the more we cheapen ourselves. The man portrayed in the Gospel of Matthew did not say anything when it was not necessary. What a humanity we see in this book!
Now we must go on to the Gospel of Mark. Mark tells us clearly that Christ is the Servant of God. But what kind of man is this Servant? First of all, He is a very diligent man. Mark 1 reveals that He was exceedingly busy. I believe that He went to bed quite late, yet verse 35 says, “Rising very early in the morning, while it was still night, He went out and went away to a deserted place, and there He prayed.” Many times people excuse themselves for not rising early because they have gone to bed so late. They feel that they can make it only to the “eleven o’clock worship service.” But the humanity that is only good for the so-called eleven o’clock service can never be good for the church life. It is only good for the eleven o’clock service. The church life needs a humanity that is diligent and alert. Sometimes the Lord was so busy that He did not have time even to eat. His relatives said that He was beside Himself (3:20-21), but sometimes we need to be the kind of man that is beside himself. The people who would not be beside themselves are usually those who are lazy. If a person is diligent in the things of the Lord, others may say that he is beside himself.
The same thing occurred in Mark 6. The Lord and His disciples were very busy, and many were coming and going so that they had no opportunity to eat. “Come by yourselves privately to a deserted place and rest a while” (v. 31). Though sometimes He was beside Himself, yet at other times He withdrew from everyone. He did this not only to rest in body but also in spirit. He was so balanced. Sometimes we must be busy, and at other times we need to stay away to rest our body and our spirit. This is the real balanced humanity.
Later on in Mark 6, we see something more of the Lord’s humanity. When He was feeding the five thousand, He ordered the disciples to have all the people sit down by companies. This was His wisdom. If they had not sat down, the disciples would not have been able to distribute the bread to them. The Lord Jesus did not tell them to sit down in a loose way but in a very orderly way: “He ordered them to have all recline by companies on the green grass. And they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties” (vv. 39-40). Everything was arranged in order. I do believe that Peter and the other disciples learned in this way how to handle a large number of people. Therefore, it was not difficult to handle the three thousand who were saved at Pentecost (Acts 2:41). They learned from the Lord how to manage such a multitude and how to do things with proper arrangement. To have such an arrangement requires the proper humanity.
The Gospel of John also records something of the Lord’s humanity. This Gospel adds something concerning the feeding of the five thousand. Jesus told the disciples to gather the pieces left over that nothing be lost (6:12). Here we see a humanity that is so solid. There is nothing sloppy in His behavior. Most of us would forget about all the broken pieces, but the Lord was careful not to leave anything in a sloppy way.
In John 7:6 we see that the Lord was always limited by time. “Jesus therefore said to them, My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.” All of us, especially the young people, need to learn not to be so free. Too much freedom indicates lawlessness. Freedom must be within the limits of law. We should not say that our time is always ready. The humanity of Jesus is not always so. His humanity does not have so much freedom. If we learn to partake of His humanity, we will see that there is limitation.
Something more about the humanity of Jesus is seen in John 7:46. The chief priests and Pharisees sent certain attendants to capture the Lord, but when they returned, they said, “Never has a man spoken as this man has.” They had never seen a man like Jesus. We need to be such a man so that others would say that they have never seen anyone like us. We should be unique, because we enjoy such a unique humanity.
When Lazarus died, we read that Jesus was moved with indignation in His spirit and wept (11:33, 35). Many times I have thought that Jesus could never weep. But with His humanity there is a time to weep. We should not be so strong that we never weep. I am afraid that if I were to weep in front of you, you would think that I am not strong. This is a religious concept; sometimes we need to weep. This is the real humanity.
Jesus not only served but was also willing to wash the feet of His disciples. He “rose from supper and laid aside His outer garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself; then He poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded” (13:4-5). He had such a humanity. He was willing to wash their feet, instead of expecting them to wash His. How we need this humanity for the church life! It is so clear in these Gospels that Jesus’ humanity is the highest humanity. This is the real meal offering.
We must realize again that the major part of the meal offering was food for the priests. If we are going to have the priest’s life, we must take Jesus as our meal offering. There is a real shortage of the priesthood today because there is no food for the priests. Without proper food for the priests, there can be no priesthood. This cannot be just a doctrine among us. We need the life of the priesthood, and the life of the priesthood can be sustained only by this kind of food. This is not an ordinary diet but a special, extraordinary diet that requires much labor on Christ. We must prepare something of Christ and bring it to the Tent of Meeting to present to God as a kind of memorial. The remainder will then be our food, and this food will sustain the life of the priesthood.
