“We know
very little about the personality, form, visage, and general appearance of the
Lord Jesus…. We know He was born…..we know He ‘grew up with his brethren’ (JST
Matt 3:24) and that when He was about thirty years of age He began a strenuous
full-time mission that would tax the strength of the most physically powerful
of men.
“During
that ministry we read of Him eating and drinking; of his being hungry, tired
and thirsty; of his walking long distances, climbing high mountains, and
sleeping soundly amid storms and terrors.
“We know he
was smitten, scourged, and crucified, and that nails pierced his hands and feet
and a spear was thrust into his side. There can be no doubt that He grew up and
lived as other men live, subject to the ills and troubles of mortality.”
-
Bruce
R. McConkie, The Promised Messiah, p 477
We also
know that He stood above other men in personality, character and demeanor. A
Messianic Psalm gives us this glimpse into the mortal Messiah: “Thou art fairer
than the children of men” (Psalm 45:2).
Dictionary
definitions of ‘fair’ include the following: clean, pure, spotless,
characterized by frankness, honestly, impartiality, or candor: just. Certainly
He was all that and more, possessing a flawless character which distinguished
Him from other men.
The Saviour
was divested of His glory in mortality and born as other men. He grew and
worked as a humble carpenter, serving under His father and being subject to
mortal parents waiting for the time of His ministry (Mark 6:3; Luke 2:51). But
then this: “He spoke not as other men, neither could he be taught; for he
needed not that any man should teach him” (JST Matt 3:24-26).
What I find
most endearing about His mortality is the time that He slept through a raging
storm. The Saviour spent three years traversing the dusty roads of Galilee and
Judea to the point of exhaustion. His tiredness would have been massive even
for a fit carpenter.
This is the
moment that showed His humanity. His tiredness was such that He slept soundly
despite the raging tempest tossing the vessel He slept in. I don’t know why,
but this affects me emotionally. A God yet a man, a man above all men.
Yet His
godship surpassed His humanity when He spoke: “Peace, be still!” and the waters
obeyed. Such command, such control, such power in one man! (Mark 4:39)
He
arose and rebuked the roaring winds
and
the raging sea,
He,
who with His word
caused
the earth to be,
Spoke
to the Galilean tempest:
“Peace, be still”.
He
who has all things
under
His command,
Calmed
the troubled sea of dismay
in
the souls of men.
He,
who holds all humanity
in
the palm of His hand,
Caused
the waves of the sea
to
whisper His name.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Artist Unknown)
