By Bob Dunne | Guest Contributor

What are the first few things that pop into your mind when you hear the name of Jesus Christ?

If you are like most people, it’s probably “God” or “Savior” or “friend.” And, of course, he is all of these. But I wonder how far down the list “human being” would be?

You see, we all tend to forget that Jesus is not just perfect God but also perfect man. This means that Jesus, as Vatican II said, shows man how to be man; how to be better and happier right here, right now.

But wait, we think, Jesus couldn’t have gotten as frustrated, felt as disappointed or unappreciated as we do from time to time. But this is where we are wrong! It happened to him a lot…he just handled it better. And he can help us do the same.

Take all the events surrounding the famous Bread of Life Sermon.  The day before, trying to get some time alone with his apostles, Jesus boards a fishing boat to go from Capernaum to Bethsaida. He is nevertheless followed from Capernaum by a mob of adoring people walking along the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. They beat him to the spot, so when he lands they are “sheep without a shepherd.” He gives up his alone time with the apostles, mingles with and teaches the crowds all day, and performs the miracle of feeding all 5,000 of them with a handful of loaves and fishes.

Later still the same day, at dusk, he tells his apostles to leave him behind and return across the sea to Capernaum. When they begrudgingly do, a big storm arises from the north which scares even these rugged fishermen. Feverishly bailing out the boats for fear of their lives, they suddenly see a ghost approaching them, freezing them in their places, their inactivity increasing their danger of sinking all the more. But Jesus tells them it is he, Peter walks on water, and upon Jesus’ stepping into the boat, the storm is calmed, the drenched apostles finding it hard to believe the intensity of the storm a moment ago. 

The storm, however, has knocked them a number of miles off course and they are a good bit south of Capernaum, near Magdala. Jesus nevertheless insists on docking there. He begins walking along the shore line path north to Capernaum and is immediately recognized by the people of Magdala. They bring their sick and lame out to be cured, and he cures them all.

It continues to be a frenzy of curing people as he makes the six mile trip from Magdala to Capernaum. Arriving at Capernaum, accompanied by a large number of those he has cured on the way, he is also met by many of the people he fed over in Bethsaida the previous day. It is a large, tumultuous and adoring crowd.

It is here, at perhaps the high point of his popularity, less than a year before being killed, he tells the crowd that he is the bread of life. And what happens? Well-fed, cured of diseases, giddy with anticipation, and drunk with enthusiasm, they reject him. In fact, so many people leave that Jesus asks his apostles “Do you also want to leave?” Talk about being underappreciated and disappointed!

You want to make this the best Lent of your life? Get to know Jesus as the human being he was.  Walk along with him, get tired and rained on with him, absorb the praises, suffer the rejections and learn from him how to love other human beings unconditionally.

Be sure of this: drawing closer to Jesus’ humanity will make you a better husband, better wife, better son, better daughter – in short, a better person. And it will also make this a Lent you will never forget.

Bob Dunne is the author of “909 Days that Changed the World” which puts the four Gospels in their likely chronological order and lets the reader walk along with Jesus day by day, week by week, month by month during his public ministry. You can get the book online from Leonine Press, Amazon or Barnes/Noble. You can also email him at [email protected] for a signed copy.