Jesus the Man, not the Legend

I've been reflecting recently on Philippians 2:5-11, Paul's hymn about the humility of Christ. The NIV translates it like this:

5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death -
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

This has really got me thinking a lot about Jesus' nature while he walked and ministered on the earth. More precisely, it's got me beginning to realize more fully the extent of his humanity. When it says in vv. 6-7 that Jesus did not consider equality with God something to grasp and instead took on the role of a servant, Paul is suggesting that during his earthly tenure, Jesus was completely human, and not in any way divine. He was, however, the second Adam - a human rightly related to God throughout the entirety of his life.

As we read through the gospel, this means that the things we see Jesus doing are the types of things that God had always intended for people to do as people with His Spirit and in proper relationship with Him. The acts of Jesus, while they are unique inasmuch as they are rooted in a particular historical setting, are not unique types of actions. This is evidenced by the actions of several of the Old Testament prophets, such as Moses, Elijah, or Elisha (Elijah, for example, raises the dead in 1 Kgs 17:17-24, just as Jesus does for Lazarus in Jn 11:38-44).

It is quite common to suggest that one of (if not the) primary themes of Jesus' ministry was the Kingdom of God. Through his words and works, Jesus was expanding the Kingdom of God - the area of influence of the Lord's reign. The evidence of the appearance of the Kingdom is seen in the effect it has on people who come in contact with Jesus. "The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor" (Lk 7:22; cf. Isa 61). Essentially, Jesus leaves in his wake a territory that looks an awful lot like Eden. The effects of the Fall are reversed in Jesus' presence.

For us, to whom Jesus has left the Spirit of God, this means that we are charged with the same mission, to spread the Kingdom of God wherever we go, the essence of the Great Commission (Mt 28:19-20). It is therefore becoming more and more shocking to me that we do not see in many of our churches the same kinds of things that the prophets were doing or the same sorts of things that Jesus was doing or the same types of things that the apostles were doing after Pentecost. Increasingly, I end up asking myself why we do not see the tangible effects of the curse reversed in our churches, the very places we would expect the Kingdom of God to be intersecting this planet.

As an amateur surgeon, I think it's worth pursuing these goals wherever we go. It's worth chasing a dream that there will be no sickness or disease or blindness any place where I place my feet. For wherever I go, I should hope to bring the Kingdom of God with me. Let it be so.