Focus: Human Nature (Pt.2)

Text: Jh.2:23-25

"Many BELIEVED in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not COMMIT himself unto them, because he KNEW all men. And needed not that any should testify of man: for he KNEW what was in man."

Jesus knows us in and out. He knows our makeup. Laws exist to check our flaws. We are not a mystery to the one who made us. No one can surprise God. We are like an open book before God. The psalmist says, "For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust" (Ps.103:14). He knows what stuff we are made of and where he picked us from.

In Genesis we have the story of what transpired between Joseph and his brothers in Egypt. "So Joseph sent his brothers off, and as they left, he called after them, "Don't quarrel about all this along the way!" And they left Egypt and returned to their father, Jacob, in the land of Canaan" (Gen.45:24–25).

Joseph reconciled with his brothers, treated them to a six-course meal, gave them a change of raiment, and all they needed he supplied in abundance for their trip back to Canaan. But to Benjamin, his brother from the same mother, he gave him in addition, three hundred shekels of silver and five new garments - a kind of gift that could raise an eyebrow. And as they set out to return to Canaan, Joseph called them back and pleaded with them not to have issues on their way back home.

Why did Joseph do that? The answer is simple: he understood human nature. He remembered what they did to him out of envy and jealousy. Four times it is recorded that they hated him. They hated him for being the favorite son and for his dreams. In the words of Jacob, their father: "The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and HATED him" (Gen.49:23). The hate was deep. And that is human nature, and Joseph knew it. He knew that the dark side of human nature keeps resurfacing when it finds itself in a tight corner. The sort of thing Joseph did triggers the flesh, for it is quite obvious that he showed preferential treatment to Benjamin. The flesh rears its ugly self anytime a thing like this occurs. Joseph had to plead with his brothers not to quarrel over anything, but to maintain the peace.

Human nature is unstable and unreliable. The flesh is capable of springing up surprises at anytime, whether awesome or awful. Paul says in 2Cor.1:9, "But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead."

People of God, let us humbly accept this sentence of death and stop being unnecessarily overconfident in ourselves. The flesh showed up in Peter, and he denied his master. The flesh showed up in Judas, and he sold his master for money. The list goes on throughout the Scripture.

Paul has given us a tip on how to rise above the ugly side of our human nature. He says, "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof" (Rom.13:14). Stop being loyal to the old man. Instead, make room for the new man. In Christ you are a new creation and the Spirit of Christ lives in you. Let your trust be in God, not in your self-righteousness. Amen.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter