The character traits and the feelings of Jesus-Christ

The Character traits and the Feelings of Jesus-Christ

Dear brothers and sisters, there are many things to say in this article, and I would like to start with a passage in the Word of God, in Philippians 2:5 « In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had: who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a human being, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! »

In this article, I would like to talk about all the character traits which make up the personality of Jesus Christ. My desire is to shed light on all the qualities which you can find in the behavior that our dear Jesus developed in His ministry on Earth. 

You could ask me this question: « Why should we analyze Jesus’ character traits? » Simply because, as human beings, we need someone to refer and to compare ourselves to, and that is how God has chosen to reveal Himself to us. 

John 14:9 « Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.’ »

God the Father wanted to show us His heart, His tenderness through Jesus’ humanity. When we honor the Son by our love, we honor the Father by our love as well. That is why it is important to discover His attitudes of heart in the Gospels so as to start learning about the depths of the heart of the Eternal Father, and they will be further unveiled in the worship dimension.  

Now, let us talk a little bit about the loyalty that Jesus showed towards His Father, whom He also considers as His God, when He accepted to take human form in order to come to Earth to accomplish the mission He was given: to bring the Word of God to mankind. He made Himself nothing by taking the nature of a servant, becoming like men, He appeared as a real man.

Hebrews 2:7 « You have made Him a little lower than the angels; » we can notice very often in the Gospels the loyalty that Jesus displayed towards His Father. 

He showed loyalty when the devil put Him on the top of the Temple, at the end of their conversation, Jesus concluded by saying: « Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’ » He also displayed loyalty towards His Father when He called the Pharisees a ‘brood of vipers’, every time people wanted to stone Him, and finally when facing the Sanhedrin:

Matthew 26:64 « ’You have said so,’ Jesus replied. ‘But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of Heaven.’ »

These manifestations of courage and loyalty inspire in me great respect and admiration towards my King.

Let us talk about His courage: maybe some of us see His courage through His ministry and the ultimate goal of the cross. I think it would be good for us to close our eyes and imagine this little boy, in the little town of Nazareth, who faced right from the beginning of His life aggressions from the other children because He was different and He could not always take part in their mean games, or in their not-so-clean conversations. We can also imagine how from the start He must have been put aside because He was not like everybody else, because He had a different vision and a different language. We can think about His adolescence among the young people as well, all the mocking He had to bear and all the loneliness His difference brought Him. He had to bear all of this until He became a man. Some of you might tell me: “Yes, but He was the Son of God, and the Spirit was upon Him.” Let us take a look at the Word of God:

Hebrew 4:15 « For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet He did not sin.”

Hebrew 5:5 “In the same way, Christ did not take on Himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to Him, ‘You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.’ And He says in another place, ‘You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.’ During the days of Jesus’ life on Earth, He offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission. Son though He was, He learned obedience from what He suffered and, once made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him”

After this reading, we can see that things have not always been easy for our gentle Lord.

It is with courage that He must have resisted all the persecutions that the Pharisees threw at Him, all these religious people who had but one goal: to try to stop Him in His ministry. And we have not even started talking about all the spiritual attacks that the devil launched against Him. Maybe we are starting to realize the great courage that Jesus had to deploy for us!

Let us now talk about the way He protected His children, His disciples during His ministry. We often see the religious leaders of the time attack Jesus through the behavior of the disciples. Please read Matthew 12:1-8, Luke 22:31-34, John 8:1-11, John 6:39, John 10:9-15. You can also look for other passages in the Word of God where Jesus did the same thing.

Let us now talk about forgiveness. Look at the powerful love with which He forgives the adulterous woman in the Gospel of John 8:1-11.Also, in the Gospel of Luke 7:36-50: this passage in Luke is for me one of the loveliest, one of the most beautiful and one of the most powerful. Mark 3:28 “Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter”. You can find other passages like this in the Gospels.

Let us now about his tendernessMatthew 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Luke 7:12 “As He approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out – the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, His heart went out to her and He said, ‘Don’t cry.’ Then He went up touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, ‘Young man, I say to you, get up!’ The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.”
John 11:33 “When Jesus was her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. ‘Where have you laid him?’ He asked. ‘Come and see Lord,’ they replied. Jesus wept.” It is up to you to find other passages like this in the Gospels.

Let us now talk about His joy. Jesus did not have the dull and closed face of the religious, He was able to radiate joy: Luke 10:21 “At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit”, John 15:11 “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete”. Romans 14:17 “For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”

We can also talk about His humility. He is always humble towards His Father.
Mark 10:17 “As Jesus started on His way, a man ran up to Him and fell on his knees before Him. ‘Good teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do inherit eternal life?’ ‘Why do you call Me good?’ Jesus answered. ‘No one is good – except God alone.’”

Luke 22:27 “For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.” John 4:34 “’My food,’ said Jesus, ‘is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.’” That which deeply gratified Jesus, which made His Joy, which satisfied Him in the very depths of His heart, which fed Him in His soul, was to do the will of His Eternal Father.

We can talk about His fears as well,Mark 14:33 “He took Peter, James and John along with Him, and He began to be deeply distressed and troubled. ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,’ He said to them. ‘Stay here and keep watch.’”

We can talk about His faithfulness in achieving point by point the will of God.Mark 14:36 “’Abba, Father,’ He said, ‘Everything is possible for You. Take this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what You will.’”

John 19:28 “Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I am thirsty.’ Verse 30: “Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’” This little sentence is Jesus’ last victory call as a man on Earth.

Conclusion: In this article I only gave a few examples of the wonderful qualities of Jesus Christ’s person, from now on, when you read the Gospels, you will be able to look for – by taking the time – all the emotions, all the qualities, all the powerful manifestations, the faithfulness, the loyalty, and the great love Jesus showed towards His Father, and towards men. When we read, we should be imaginative in order to visualize the biblical scenes.

The Bible tells us that we must be Christ-like, seek to be like Him, have in us the feelings that were in Jesus Christ. The Bible says that Jesus is the elder of many brothers, the Bible says ‘as He is, so shall we be’, and it also says ‘be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.’

We often say, when speaking about someone, that they are bad-tempered, from now on you will know that in the Bible bad temper has no part in a Christian life.

Traduction by Julien Popieul