Was Jesus Really Human?
From Elder Mike Harris
WAS JESUS REALLY HUMAN like we are, or did He possess something that is not available to us?
Hebrews 4:15
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
So how was Jesus able to overcome the flesh?
I don't know at what point that Jesus' parents told Him about His conception, but from a fairly young age, He was interested to know all about the Word of God. We see that He was separated from His family in Jerusalem because He was speaking with the priest about God's Word. Just like with the prophets, when you seek God fervently, you will find Him and He will tell you of things to come. Somewhere in that process, He learned about the plan that God had for His life.
At the start of His ministry, He was baptized by John and the Holy Spirit. He must have spoken to God constantly because He said that He only said what He heard God say and did what God told Him to do. In The Garden of Gethsemane we get the full picture of His humanity and the reason that He was able to be obedient. After supper, as He was wont to do - meaning that was His normal thing to do - He went to pray at The Mount of Olives (Luke 22:39). This is an important thing that shows us how He was able to be obedient. Just like when His disciples could not cast out a certain demon, Jesus said that this kind only comes out by prayer and fasting, yet Jesus did not tell the man to come back tomorrow so that He could pray and fast. He cast out the demon immediately because prayer and fasting was His lifestyle.
We see His humanity when He asked His Father that if it were possible, could He remove this cup from Him. He had no doubt seen crucifixions and beatings with the cat of nine tails, and as a human, He didn't want to go through it. He agonized so much over it that He sweat blood. However, the Bible says that He learned obedience through the things that He suffered and He said, "Not My will, but Yours be done." Everything that was available to Jesus is available to us. We just have to choose God's plan over our will. Jesus said that the things that He did, we can do and even greater things than that.
