This week carries a particular weight in my heart. Today marks the 33rd death anniversary of my dad, a day that always brings a mix of quiet reflection and deep longing. When I wrote What do you gain in death? a few years ago, I wrestled with the sting of mortality. Grief has a way of stripping away abstract theology and making us crave something—or someone—tangible.
In the middle of our sorrow, we don’t just need a distant God; we need a God who has felt the cold grip of death, who has wept, and who has lived within the fragile confines of human skin. We need a Redeemer who is truly human.
The Divine “Next of Kin”
In our last post, we saw why the Redeemer had to die. But why did it have to be a man on that cross? Why couldn’t a divine decree from the heavens just wipe the slate clean?
The answer lies in the “law of representation.” To pay the debt of humanity, the payer had to be one of us. Hebrews 2:17 tells us that Jesus “had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest.” He had to be our “Next of Kin.” Just as through one man’s disobedience (Adam) many were made sinners, so through the obedience of the one man, Jesus Christ, the many will be made righteous (Romans 5:19). He lived the human life we failed to live, perfectly obeying God’s law from within our own limitations.
“But He’s So Different… Is He Really Like Us?”
You might ask: “Jesus performed miracles, never sinned, and rose from the grave. How can you say He is fully human like me?”
It’s a fair question. We often confuse “humanity” with “sinfulness,” but sin is actually a corruption of humanity, not a requirement of it. Adam was fully human before he sinned. Jesus is the “Second Adam”—He shows us what a human being was actually designed to look like.
He didn’t use His divinity as a “cheat code” to bypass human struggle. He felt hunger, He felt the exhaustion of a long day’s work, and He felt the gut-wrenching pain of losing a loved one. Hebrews 4:15 is perhaps the most comforting verse for anyone in a season of grief:
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.”
The Redeemer Who Understands
Because He was truly human, Jesus doesn’t just look down on our pain; He sits in it with us. He understands the temptation to despair. He understands the weight of a broken heart. And because He stood where we stand and remained perfect, He alone is qualified to help us.
A Call to Spiritual Growth
Spiritual growth isn’t about becoming “less human”; it’s about becoming more like the Perfect Human. This week, especially if you are walking through a valley of loss or temptation, talk to Jesus not as a distant monarch, but as a Brother who knows your frame. Practice honesty in your prayers. He isn’t shocked by your weakness; He’s already felt it.
Reflect: In what area of your life do you need to remember that Jesus truly understands your struggle today?
Next Step:
If being truly human allowed Him to represent us, there is still the other side of the mystery. If He were only human, He would have stayed in the grave. In our next post, we ask: Why must the Redeemer be truly God?
Read the We “the Faith People” Series here. Below is the list of what we have covered so-far
- What is the Purpose of my life?
- Who is God?
- What is Creation?
- What is Fall
- What is Sin?
- Who is our Redeemer?
- Why was it necessary for Christ, the Redeemer, to die?
- Why must the Redeemer be truly human? (This blog)