Jesus came into the world to save sinners. But he didn't come as a superhero. He came as a humble bundle of human flesh - a completely dependent, stinky, crying baby - unable to communicate - needing to be carried everywhere - helpless.
Jesus experienced growing up. At some point he crawled, then he pulled up and took his first steps. He probably fell down in the process. He went through human developmental stages. He developed language skills.
Jesus was not like Clark Kent. Clark Kent was Superman in disguise, but he was still superman - bulletproof - able to leap tall buildings - super strong. Clark Kent was an extra terrestrial and not a human.
Jesus was fully human. He experienced human limitations. He became tired, hungry and thirsty. He knew what it was to exert himself to the limit of his very human strength. There were things he could not lift and things he could not reach.
Jesus knew exactly what we experience on a day to day basis - sleeping, waking up, eating, drinking, (and even digestion with all that means.) If he had a pebble in this sandal he had to stop and shake it out.
The recognition of Jesus as a fully human person is important. His death for human sinners was a real human death. He was not sustained on the cross by superhuman (or supernatural) abilities. It hurt him like it would have hurt us. It was agony for him in the same way it would have been agony for us.
Jesus' life and death were not a dramatization of human experience - they were true human experience. That's what Christmas is about. God became a human. By that he became the perfect Savior - the true bridge between God and men. Now he is our perfect high priest - He knows what it is like to be us.
Have a Christmas that is full of wonder!
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