Our world is starving of true manhood, of true men. There are many misrepresentations and imperfect pictures of what it means to be a man. An author wrote that, "A false notion of manliness leads boys astray." Some believe to be hard and emotionless is manly while there's the other extreme of being effusive. What do we do then to remedy this? Pilate made a statement, from which I shall build this article. He said, "Behold the Man!" Our lives depend on obeying these words, although Pilate may not have seen the power in beholding Jesus. Let us then obey the man, drawing one or two points from the book of John, from each chapter.
Jesus the true, real man was deeply intimate with the Father. So should we.
John 1:18 18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
This is the beginning and this is the end - only the one who has dwelt in the closest place possible to God can make Him known to others. As a man, Jesus shows us that to be a true man is to know God so deeply, so intimately and to never rest satisfied but press even closer. That's a true man.
2. Jesus was sociable; He attended a wedding.
John 2:2 2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. Of course, I do not mean that every wedding be attended when invited, for many ceremonies today are scenes of revelry. This point is that a true man loves to interact with people for the purpose of benefiting them as Christ blessed that ceremony by turning water to healthy, nutritious wine. If you behold Jesus, your desire to be with people, to know them, to help them would burn hot.
3. Jesus would not be flattered.
John 3:1-3 1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus came with flattery but Jesus went straight to the point, to Nicodemus' need. A true man would not be flattered. He knows who he is and whose he is. 4. Jesus was not racist nor tribalistic. He had a large heart; He understood that all men are made of God. The Samaritan woman asked a question: KJV John 4:9 9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. The Jews related to Samaritans only on business basis. Every other interaction was prohibited. In fact, Jews placed Samaritans in the same category with devils. John 8:48. If we would be true men then we would see every man as in need of salvation and not class and condemn people by their tribes.
Would we be true? "BEHOLD THE MAN!"