Even though Jesus declared himself to be God (John 10:30), he often referred to himself as “the Son of Man” (Luke 19:10). Jesus frequently used this phrase in reference to himself because he identified himself as human. We can take comfort in the fact that Jesus is fully human and fully divine. We can’t completely comprehend this mystery, but we can accept it because it’s true.
As a human, Jesus experienced everything we experience, including temptation. And yet because he is fully God, he did not sin (Hebrews 4:15,16). This is the authentic Jesus our world is looking for.
Jesus identified with the people he encountered then, and he can relate to us now, because he knows what we are going through. He knows what our world is going through today. He groans with us and laments the brokenness around us. This Jesus, the true, authentic Jesus, is the only one who can offer genuine hope to this broken and dying world.
Just like it was when Jesus lived among us, no one who authentically meets Jesus today remains the way they were. As Mary Magdalene says in the first episode of the first season of “The Chosen,” “I was once one way, but now I’m different. And he made all the difference.”
