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Introduction

How can we relate to a man who is God? He had a physical body just like
us, yet he could walk on water. He had to eat and drink, yet he could
make one meal feed thousands and could turn water into wine. His spit
could heal blindness; his clothes could heal a hemorrhage. He weeps and
mourns when a friend dies, yet goes and brings him back to life. He
knows what others are thinking; he comes back to life after he is
killed; his blood atones for sins. The creeds say he was fully God and
fully man, but sometimes it seems he is more God than man.

The Human Spirit

There is a phrase we’re all familiar with called “the human
spirit”. It means: triumph over adversity, hope in the midst of
despair, good coming out of tragedy. We hear the phrase used in rags to
riches stories, in beautiful art coming from broken artists, in stories
of survival against all odds. It is in that idea where we can relate to
Jesus the man. Like Jesus, we all must face adversity of some kind
whether it comes from people or events in life. Like Jesus, we struggle
against despair, at times wondering if there is another way and seeking
to find a ray of hope. And like Jesus, the tragedy of death is looming
over us and could take us when we don’t want to go. Yet, like Jesus, we
keep moving on even in the suffering. Sometimes we keep on because we
don’t know what else to do, other times it is with a clear sense of
purpose and meaning. In those moments of clarity we see the hope behind
the perseverance. It is the essence of what they call “the human
spirit”. As we look at Jesus facing the darkest hour of his life, we
find his “human spirit” filled with courage and hope in the midst of
his sufferings.

Courage

We see Jesus’ courage in the Garden of Gethsemane. Three times he
earnestly prayed to his Father, asking him if there was another way. He
knew what he was about to face would be hard, painful, and lonely. He
longed for his disciples’ company in these prayers because soon he
would be without them. The isolation had already began. As much as he
didn’t want to face all that was to come, in the end he yielded to his
Father’s will. After all the anguish and sweat like drops of blood, we
see Jesus facing his task with bold courage, unwavering to the end. He
would experience the worst that life could give: betrayal by a friend,
abandonment, lies and rumors told about him, injustice, unimaginable
pain and suffering, yet he bore it all.

Despair?

But what about that cry on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me?” Was Jesus at that moment giving in to despair? Had he
lost hope? This is where the triumph against despair comes in. It
reveals the kind of future hope of salvation that men cling to when
there’s nothing left to give them strength. Jesus was reciting from the
Jewish prayer book, the Psalms. His words were the opening lines of
Psalm 22. It is a psalm prophesying that very moment when Jesus was
hanging on the cross. As the sins of the world were placed on him, as
Jesus felt the separation from God, he had breath enough to only utter
the first line, but I believe his mind continued the rest of the psalm
leading him through despair to hope. He had to first face the felt
abandonment of God, but he never stopped trusting in him. Listen to the
words of the entire psalm:

 2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
       by night, and am not silent.

 3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
       you are the praise of Israel. 

 4 In you our fathers put their trust;
       they trusted and you delivered them.

 5 They cried to you and were saved;
       in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

 6 But I am a worm and not a man,
       scorned by men and despised by the people.

 7 All who see me mock me;
       they hurl insults, shaking their heads:

 8 “He trusts in the LORD;
       let the LORD rescue him.
       Let him deliver him,
       since he delights in him.”

 9 Yet you brought me out of the womb;
       you made me trust in you
       even at my mother’s breast.

 10 From birth I was cast upon you;
       from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

 11 Do not be far from me,
       for trouble is near
       and there is no one to help.

 12 Many bulls surround me;
       strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

 13 Roaring lions tearing their prey
       open their mouths wide against me.

 14 I am poured out like water,
       and all my bones are out of joint.
       My heart has turned to wax;
       it has melted away within me.

 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
       and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
       you lay me in the dust of death.

 16 Dogs have surrounded me;
       a band of evil men has encircled me,
       they have pierced my hands and my feet.

 17 I can count all my bones;
       people stare and gloat over me.

 18 They divide my garments among them
       and cast lots for my clothing.

 19 But you, O LORD, be not far off;
       O my Strength, come quickly to help me.

 20 Deliver my life from the sword,
       my precious life from the power of the dogs.

 21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
       save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

 22 I will declare your name to my brothers;
       in the congregation I will praise you.

 23 You who fear the LORD, praise him!
       All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
       Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

 24 For he has not despised or disdained
       the suffering of the afflicted one;
       he has not hidden his face from him
       but has listened to his cry for help.

 25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
       before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.

 26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
       they who seek the LORD will praise him—
       may your hearts live forever!

 27 All the ends of the earth
       will remember and turn to the LORD,
       and all the families of the nations
       will bow down before him,

 28 for dominion belongs to the LORD
       and he rules over the nations.

 29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
       all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
       those who cannot keep themselves alive.

 30 Posterity will serve him;
       future generations will be told about the Lord.

 31 They will proclaim his righteousness
       to a people yet unborn—
       for he has done it.

Hope

Did you hear the words of hope? Promises of salvation to the
nations and to generations to come. Did you hear echoes of the human
spirit that finds hope, not in the moment but in the future. We share
the same human spirit that faces adversity, tragedy, and despair. Yet
now this human spirit has been joined with God’s Spirit in the person
of Jesus Christ. For now we can truly overcome our sufferings, not with
a fool’s hope but with a hope that is certain, a hope that goes beyond
the world and the curse it is under, a hope that is eternal.

Conclusion

As we look at the humanity of Jesus in those last dark hours of
his life, we can clearly see his emotional and physical suffering. It
is raw and real. It is something we can relate to. It is what gives our
human spirit courage to face despair. And it paved the way for a
steadfast hope that rests in God and not in us.

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