The Humanity of Christ Manifested

Driving home: The Bible teaches us that Christ is able to do what He does precisely because He is what He is. If He were not who He is He could not do what the Bible says He does particularly with reference to the salvation of His peo…

Martin distinguishes Christ's genuine hunger from mere appetite, describing the physical sensations of an empty stomach to emphasize the reality of His human experience.

Hunger pangs began to grip our Lord. Now this was not the case that so many of us experience and within which we must exercise Herculean will to keep our weight stable. It was not the case of someone with a half full or a completely full stomach who seeing a nice dainty has his desire for that piece of food awakened by suggestion and sight. Look at the text carefully.

19:05 - 19:38 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He introduces the first main point: the vivid manifestation of Christ's true humanity, evidenced by His physical hunger, His acquisition of information through observation, and…

He uses Proverbs 27:7 ('the full soul loatheth a honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet') to further illustrate the intensity and reality of Christ's hunger.

in terms of its exposure to the sun and the other elements that it brings out its foliage sooner than others and we are told by those who study the horticulture of this part of Palestine that the ordinary fig tree has at least two or three bearing periods and that often the fruit begins to appear even before the leaves and if you find a tree that seems to be in unusually full foliage in the spring it may well have upon it not the big luscious ripe figs of the later harvests but at least these smaller sour figs that would in some way ease the hunger pangs of a genuinely hungry man so what we ha...

21:49 - 23:16 Read in full sermon

Driving home: And the second great mystery is the mystery of the person of our Savior, that he is as much man as though he were not God and as much God as though he were not man. And yet we have not two but one Christ.

Martin compares the mystery of the Trinity (one God, three persons) to the mystery of Christ's person (one Christ, two distinct natures) to explain why human logic cannot fully unravel these truths.

the great leap that their skepticism and unbelief makes in their logic, if he be skepticism and unbelief or unwilling to, with what one servant of God who has gone to glory called the second great mystery, see, in the universe the greatest mystery is the mystery of the being of God, that he is the one true and living God. And yet within that one God there are three subsistences, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So the Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Spirit. The Spirit is not the Son nor the Father yet. There are not three gods but one God. That's the great mystery.

34:47 - 35:42 Read in full sermon

The point: Trust that Christ's soul absorbed every last drop of God's wrath, so you can go to your grave without terror.

He uses the metaphor of Christ's soul as 'one massive blotter' to vividly convey how Christ absorbed every last drop of God's wrath, leaving none for His people.

Dear people, that's the man, Christ Jesus, in our room and in our stead, appeasing the wrath of God by absorbing it into his own soul. If I may say it, to use the imagery without irreference, his soul was one massive blotter that could soak up every last drop of the wrath of God against his elect. And if there was one drop left, I'd go to my grave in terror, wondering if it was my drop. But we can all, who trust in Christ, go to our grave, that that Lord...

52:15 - 52:59 Read in full sermon

The point: Draw strong encouragement from Christ's intercession, knowing His humanity allows Him to sympathize with your struggles and preserve you to glory.

The world is described as 'constantly like an experience flashes its thigh' to illustrate its seductive power against believers.

wrath against his own. But then, thirdly, this has great implications for us as God's people, not only in terms of the virtue of Christ, which is the ground of our acceptance, in terms of the substitutionary death of Christ, which forms the heart of our salvation. But gird up the loins of your mind and pray that God will help you to grasp this. But it is also of great concern and comfort and significance, dear people, because, or in terms of, the intercessory work of Christ, which is the focus of our present confidence and the basis of all our consolation. What is the focal point of our confid...

52:59 - 54:27 Read in full sermon

The point: Draw strong encouragement from Christ's intercession, knowing His humanity allows Him to sympathize with your struggles and preserve you to glory.

Martin speculates about Christ's childhood struggles, like learning the Hebrew alphabet or hitting his finger with a mallet, to emphasize that His perfect humanity still involved real human effort and learning.

let us therefore draw near with boldness what will give us boldness to draw near when we are buffeted by temptation when we are oppressed by the sheer weight of human weakness and vulnerability what will give us confidence O child of God grasp the wonder of it every single felt weakness and infirmity which our Lord experienced in the days of his humiliation every time he had to struggle in the acquisition of knowledge perhaps had to scratch his head doing the orthography of his Hebrew alphabet academy students maybe the olive didn't come easy to him I don't know perfect humanity does not mean ...

60:12 - 61:40 Read in full sermon

The point: Draw strong encouragement from Christ's intercession, knowing His humanity allows Him to sympathize with your struggles and preserve you to glory.

He recounts Christ's experience in Gethsemane, including His weariness and disappointment with the disciples, to show that Christ experienced real human emotions and needs.

and when he didn't get enough sleep and there was unusual expenditure of energy he knew what it was to be bone weary John 4 Jesus being wearied with his journey sat thus by a well he had the needs of the soul for companionship and understanding and sympathy and empathy so he comes to the three and says watch with me one hour I'm entering into the trauma of facing the cop I need the support of my fellow creatures when he comes back and finds them sleeping there's disappointment what could you not watch with me one hour that holy heart experienced disappointment it experienced pain and weariness...

61:40 - 63:06 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Lord, but you carried it up there into heaven and it sure makes me bold to come in my weakness and in my weariness and in my disappointment and in my confusion to come boldly to the throne of grace knowing there's a man …

Martin references Christ weeping at a grave to illustrate His empathy with human grief, offering comfort to those who have lost loved ones.

and you can see no reason for that pain when you must stand as some of you have done and we've mingled tears with you as we've put the little box in the ground and some of you mothers have had to see the fruit of your womb laid in the cold earth and you've wept remember there's someone who's stood by a grave and wept and they said behold how he wept and we loved him that's our savior dear people that's our savior that's our human savior though time does not permit for its gone to open up the indications of his deity tonight God willing we'll do it next week in everything I've said you know you...

64:33 - 66:01 Read in full sermon

The point: Recognize the irrationality and madness of hardening yourself against Christ, especially when facing death.

He uses the image of the 'death rattle in your throat' to challenge unbelievers who think they are masters of their own fate, highlighting the inescapable reality of death.

and all you do is lights griefs and disappointments ride over you as you harden yourself more and more to prove you're the master of your own fate and the captain of your soul well my friend listen when the death rattles in your throat and God's about to pull that soul away from the body we'll see who's boss then you tell the death angel go away it's not a convenient time for him to come see if he listens to your voice dear unconverted friend this savior whom we've contemplated from Mark's gospel he's the savior who is sincerely and freely offered to you in the gospel and he became true man th...

67:27 - 68:55 Read in full sermon