That’s right, I became a father.

At this point you are probably wandering what all this has to do with the somewhat curious title of this article. It’s amazing what parenthood does to you. Amidst the sleepless nights (which I have to say have been minimal), and the great highs and occasional lows, I have found myself contemplating all manner of wondrous and peculiar thoughts.

During one particular crying session (the baby’s, not mine) I was struck by the thought… did Jesus cry as a baby? According to the writer of one certain Christmas Carol, ‘but little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes.’

Surely the answer would be yes. Baby Jesus was still a baby, and like all babies, he would have been hungry. As I have discovered, there is only one way for a baby to get mum’s attention, and it’s not by asking quietly and politely.

Of course, this led me down the path of the age old question, did Jesus ever get sick?

I found myself pondering whether the boy Jesus ever caught a cold? Did He ever fall and break a leg while playing with His friends? Did he ever eat too much at Passover and get a stomach ache? Did He ever get a bit too excited with his hammer and chisel and end up with a bruised and swollen thumb?

We know that Jesus was fully God, and therefore never sinned. So we can also deduce that any physical sickness Jesus may have experienced was not a result of sin. At this point, I must stress that I by no means believe all human sickness to be a result of sin.

But He was also fully man, as John says, the Word became flesh. So therefore He would have experienced everything we experienced, and would have been subjected to the conditions of a fallen and sinful world.  

We know that Jesus got hungry in the desert after fasting for forty days and nights. Surely He would have been verging on malnutrition? And of course on the cross, above and beyond the obvious excruciating pain and suffering, one of the last statements Jesus made was a cry for water. 6 hours under the hot Jerusalem midday sun would surely dehydrate anyone.

I don’t seek to answer this hotly debated question. But I do wish to add a very somber challenge. 

I believe that, to this day, there is something that makes Jesus sick. And I’m not talking about the everyday cold here. At the risk of sounding graphic, there is one thing that makes Jesus so physically ill, that he is forced to throw it up. In the book of Revelation Jesus Himself says these incredibly confronting words, So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth (Revelation 3:16).

Jesus cannot stomach lukewarm, half-hearted followers.

My prayer is that we, you and I, will be so passionately hot for Jesus that we will be an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the Lord (Leviticus 1:13).

Ian Anderson

Creative Director

Bill Newman Ministries

television@billnewman.org.au