I was sitting up reading this evening since I couldn't sleep. My book of choice was The Case for the Real Jesus by Lee Strobel.

Mr. Strobel interviewed Craig A. Evans, Ph.D. on many of the new documents coming to light and their authenticity. Near the end of the interview, Dr. Evans begins to discuss his belief that many Christians today are semi-docetic. It's important to understand what docetism is.

According to dictionary.com: Docetism - noun
1. an early Christian doctrine that the sufferings of Christ were apparent and not real and that after the crucifixion he appeared in a spiritual body.
2. Roman Catholic Church. an ancient heresy asserting that Jesus lacked full humanity.

According to American Hertiage Dictionary: Docetism - noun
An opinion especially associated with the Gnostics that Jesus had no human body and only appeared to have died on the cross.

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary: Docetism
1846, heresy holding that the body of Jesus was a phantom, from Gk. Doketai, name of the sect, lit. "believers," from dokein "to seem, have the appearance of, think," related to doxa

So, basically, docetism is the belief that Jesus was just pretending to be human. As Dr. Evans said, "It's almost as though a lot of Christians think of Jesus as God wearing a human mask. He's sort of faking it, pretending to be human. He pretends to perspire, his stomach only appears to gurgle because, of course, he's not really hungry. In fact, he doesn't really need to eat. So Jesus is the bionic Son of God who isn't really human. This is thought to be an exalted Christology, but it's not. Orthodox Christology also embraces fully the humanity of Jesus." This quote can be found on page 61.

This starts me thinking about Jesus sweating. Odd, I know. But, Jesus walked a lot. He must have travelled during the day mostly. So he is bound to have sweat... and stunk, at least occasionally. Did he ever sniff his armpit (as we've all been wont to do) before he addressed the masses?

And what exactly is the real importance of him being human? Well, as a human, he endured the same things we endured. He was hungry, tired, and of course, sweaty. He was also tempted. Many of us see his humanity as a way for us to relate to Jesus. He went through what we go through. He understands our feelings, our emotions, our hardships. He needed to be human to pay the price for our sins. The most important reason - hands down. But, maybe he was human for another reason. Maybe there is something more we can learn from Jesus' humanity.

In his humanity, Jesus was tempted. Unlike us, he resisted that temptation. If he truly was human, how could he do that? I'm just guessing, but I bet his temptation was a lot stronger than any of my lame temptations. So, how did he do it? Faith.

From A Case for the Real Jesus (page 62):

Strobel speaking to Evans: "Is there something about his human nature you'd want to emphasize?"

Evans reflected for a moment, then replied. "Yes, Jesus' own faith," he said. "He tells his disciples to have faith. Jesus has a huge amount of credibility if we see him as fully human and he actually, as a human, has faith in God..."

Jesus had faith in God. It had never occurred to me. But, faith is what made him able to resist temptation. Faith is what kept him strong in the face of great adversity. Jesus had the faith of a mustard seed. At least! His faith in God allowed him to do what he did here on earth. It allowed him to see into peoples' hearts and perform miracles.

I've often wondered why things seem different today. I ask myself why God seems different if He is supposed to be the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Well, He isn't different. We are. We have so little faith. So little that we can't resist temptation, we crumble under the slightest adversity, and we accomplish next to nothing for His kingdom.

If we could build a little more faith, we could do what Jesus did. We could resist temptation, hold steadfast in times of trouble, see into the hearts of those around us, meet needs, repair lives, perform miracles.

All it takes is the faith of a mustard seed... if only.