top of page
Dr. John M. Asquith

The Body of Jesus Christ in Life


For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him, Isaiah 53:2.

Imagine this Jew walking through a crowded market or walking through a village. There was nothing about him in his physical form that would cause anyone to take a second look. There can be no doubt that he was a physically fit man. He was a carpenter in an age of crude tools. His forearms and hands must have reflected 30 years of hard work. All too often we picture the sissified Jesus of the drawings and statues.

Let's not forget that this was a man who single handedly shut down the equivalent of a flea market. There are two recorded times when he shut down the farcical market in the temple. Jesus went to Jerusalem, And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up, John 2:14-17.

This is the equivalent to going to your local flea market with a couple of bikers hanging around and maybe an off duty sheriff's deputy or two and kicking over the tables. Imagine walking by this man as he methodically made himself a small scourge with cords hanging out. Imagine him standing in the middle of the floor holding a whip with multiple thongs while everyone else stood around and wondered who would take him on. And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple, Mark 11:16. It's hardly the picture that most people have of Jesus Christ.

We are not to assume that he was born as some superman. He had to grow in body and grow stronger in spirit. And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him, Luke 2:40. You can be sure that the first time Joseph placed a crude wood plane into this child's hands and showed him how to smooth out a board, that it didn't look as good as when he had learned the trade. Just as he was, tempted like as we are, yet without sin, (Hebrews 4:15) so he had to learn the lessons of life, yet without sin.

When people saw this man they saw the light of God. And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up, Matthew 4:13-16. What did they see? They certainly didn't see some glow or halo. They saw God manifest in the flesh. And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, I Timothy 3:16.

People didn't recognize him as the son of God by how he looked. It was his words that distinguished him. The officers answered, Never man spake like this man, John 7:46. They knew him by his works. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father, John 15:24.

He grew weary just as other men did. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour, John 4:6. He hungered as other men hunger. Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered, Matthew 21:18. He slept. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow, Mark 4:38.

What made him different than us is that his flesh could not sin. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God, I John 3:9. That verse is the greatest single verse for the eternal security of the believer. The new man inside of the believer cannot sin. However our flesh cannot cease. As the Apostle Paul said; I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin, Romans 7:25. What made Jesus Christ different than us is that his flesh was born of God. His flesh could not sin.

67 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All
bottom of page