“What manner of man is this, that even the winds and sea obey him!” (Matt. 8: 27 KJV).
What manner of MAN is this?
Jesus of course was truly a man. It says in St. John’s Gospel that Jesus, the word, became human flesh and dwelt among us (John 1: 14). He shared all of our experiences except sin, including our fear. So He knew what the disciples were feeling, when they called out in fear and when he told them to calm (Matt. 8: 26). It can become something that we do not think much about, this whole idea of Christ becoming man.
After a while as Christians, when we know the transcendent Jesus, Jesus as God, Jesus acting through the Holy Spirit we can forget that it was once th other way around. That the Holy Spirit acted through Jesus, who was merely (it seemed) a carpenter from Nazareth.
It is easy to lose track of the fact as we advance on the spiritual life that Jesus was truly a man, because we cannot see it, yet blessed are we if we cannot see Jesus’ incarnation in person, yet still believe it (John 20: 29). Our prayer life will be exceedingly blessed by a sincere awareness, in addition to a dogmatic belief or personal faith, in this reality.
When the disciples called out to Jesus in the storm in St. Matthew’s Gospel, they knew Jesus as a man. They did not know him yet as God, or Messiah. But there was a trust when they called on Jesus as man. Think when we are ill or afraid, of the comfort we derive from having other people, other MEN and women, around us. Yes, it is true that Christ appeared to the disciples in a way that showed he was more than a man, but there was something in the human way he manifested to them that was as comfort as is the appearance of a mother to a sick child.
If we can hold onto the idea of the incarnation, to personally know the reality of Jesus as man, to know his sharing of our experiences and our pains and fears, we will be able to call upon Him in our prayer life in a much deeper way, in the same way we would call on Him, like the disciples, if he were there in front of us as man. And of course we might recall Him as Man especially in the Eucharist. So let us, like the disciples, call not only on Jesus as Christ, but also on Jesus as Man, who knew our pain, that He might be our comfort in prayer in the hour of our need.
Good that you highlight Jesus as a man/human being whom can identify with our weaknesses & temptations, but conquered them every time. God the Father has an academic understanding of this but Jesus has the practical experience & therefore can understand what we go through & give direction for us to take to escape temptation successfully. Jesus being Divine & human sets a good standard for us to admire & follow his example of how to live a spiritually led life.