# Do you suppose Jesus ever got sick? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 12, 2021, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317 "2021-07-12T16:27:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/21 "2021-07-13T13:07:31Z")
Being 100% human and 100% divine, he very likely got sick. I don’t believe he would have cured himself since I think he wanted to experience the fullness of life as a human. Whether that included romance is not addressed in scripture. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/22 "2021-07-13T13:25:22Z")
Masturbating may sound a bit provocative for the sake of the argument/OP, but I see a problem defining the limits of what an illness is: did Jesus get spots as a teenager, or even acne? Hay-fever? Was he ever sad? Or did he ever feel lazy? Depressed, even? Would any one of those count as an illness? ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/23 "2021-07-13T13:25:56Z")
> [@Bootb](#): > > Or, if you like, not so much “not really shared,” but more along the lines that they haven’t bothered to think about the implications. A lot of very smart people have been thinking about this very issue for a very long time. From Aquinas to Rahner, a lot of energy has been put into understanding Christ’s nature, and to explaining it to the faithful. You may not be one of the faithful, and you might not accept the premises of those theologians working in Christology, which is of course a perfectly defensible position. Nobody in this thread is saying otherwise, or proselytizing in any way. But you can’t really say that people haven’t bothered to think about the implications. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/24 "2021-07-13T13:27:40Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Was he ever sad? We know that he wept over the death of Lazarus, even though he knew he was going to bring him back from the dead. He mourned with Mary and Martha. And we know that he asked God, if it was at all possible, to “take this cup from [him]” when he was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane before his arrest. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/25 "2021-07-13T13:31:42Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Masturbating may sound a bit provocative for the sake of the argument/OP, but I see a problem defining the limits of what an illness is: did Jesus get spots as a teenager, or even acne? Hay-fever? Was he ever sad? Or did he ever feel lazy? Depressed, even? Would any one of those count as an illness? Taking some (not all) of the posts on the “provocative” topic at face value, as something other than intentionally inflammatory, Christians pretty much across the board hold that Jesus did not sin in His lifetime, and was born without original sin, although He was tempted. For Catholics, this is specifically defined in the Catechism. Now, a debate could be had about what is and isn’t sin, and about temptation, and so on, but this is pretty much all the information we have. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/26 "2021-07-13T13:54:27Z")
I guess it depends on whether you consider masturbation to be a sin. Some religious people claim that it is, and cite Onan spilling his seed on the ground rather than impregnating his brother’s widow. I see it differently-- Onan’s sin was in deliberately fulfilling the dictates of his lust without holding to his society’s responsibility to produce an heir for his brother, and they’re not saying that masturbation, taken by itself, is a sin. To be honest, though I’m a Christian, I sometimes have a hard time accepting the possibility that Jesus never sinned even one time in His entire life. He had His parents worried _sick_ when they realized He wasn’t in their traveling party, and found Him at the temple teaching the scholars as a young man. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/27 "2021-07-13T13:55:34Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > To be honest, though I’m a Christian, I sometimes have a hard time accepting the possibility that Jesus never sinned even one time in His entire life. Hey, I get it. I’m a Christian (specifically Catholic), and there’s a _lot_ of stuff I have a hard time with. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/28 "2021-07-13T14:36:33Z")
Jesus was not capable of sin, which means Satan was wasting his time tempting him. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/29 "2021-07-13T14:42:38Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > But you can’t really say that people haven’t bothered to think about the implications. To be fair, that was a reply to me where I was thinking about the laity. And while I threw Catholics in that, I was thinking more about the Evangelicals, especially the born-again type. Where there’s a large emphasis on a “personal relationship with Jesus” and very little on theology in general, Christology, or anything to do with the actual history of Christianity. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/30 "2021-07-13T14:45:52Z")
My guess is that Jesus would have one half of the genetic issues. For example, he wouldn’t get a propensity of heart issues from his father. And he wouldn’t have physical issues as a result of sin, such as gluttony, sloth, wrath and drunkenness. And no sexually transmitted diseases. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/31 "2021-07-13T15:03:13Z")
We are told that Jesus got depressed in the Garden of Gethsemane, ‘even unto death’. Mind you, the human race _is_ enough to depress even a deity. And he prayed to be excused the crucifixion, and then later felt that God had deserted him on the cross. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/32 "2021-07-13T15:15:10Z")
For anyone interested, Nikos Kazantzakis’ _The Last Temptation of Christ_ is a wonderful novel dealing with some of the issues raised in this thread. I loved the book, and found it to be quite moving, and not in the least blasphemous. Other Christians felt _very_ differently, for whatever that’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/33 "2021-07-13T15:28:34Z")
And yet the Gospels (well, three of them) tell us that Jesus _was_ tempted. To be truly tempted, one must be capable of succumbing to temptation, no? If someone cannot sin, isn’t capable of sin, there’s no actual temptation. One can only be _tempted_ to do what one _can_ do. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/34 "2021-07-13T15:33:12Z")
The human Jesus led a aesthetic life, with much fasting. Probably with lots of fish, however- little booze and rich foods. Pretty darn healthy. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/35 "2021-07-13T15:42:09Z")
To me, as a non-Christian, the [Arian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arianism) view in early Christianity makes a lot more sense than the idea of a Trinity. The Arians believed that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were three completely separate beings. Jesus was created by God at a certain point in time, and so was literally his ‘begotten son’, and subordinate to him. The Holy Spirit was another different created being. That means there’s no problem with Jesus being tempted and having human characteristics. Jesus wasn’t the one God, he was like some kind of superior angel. He ended up in heaven ‘sitting at the right hand of God’, not merging with him. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/36 "2021-07-13T16:28:18Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > For anyone interested, Nikos Kazantzakis’ _The Last Temptation of Christ_ is a wonderful novel dealing with some of the issues raised in this thread. > > I loved the book, and found it to be quite moving, and not in the least blasphemous. Have you seen the movie, and if so, would you say that the same applies to it? ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/37 "2021-07-13T16:28:23Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > The human Jesus led a aesthetic life, with much fasting. Probably with lots of fish, however- little booze and rich foods. True. He was known to hang out with fishermen, after all. On the other hand, He liked to make sure the wine never ran out. So who knows. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/38 "2021-07-13T16:30:07Z")
I saw the movie. I didn’t think it was Scorsese’s best. I wasn’t moved by it the way I was by the novel. But no, I wasn’t outraged by it or anything like that. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/39 "2021-07-13T16:34:46Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > The human Jesus led a aesthetic life, with much fasting. Assuming you mean “ascetic,” I’m not so sure that’s true in general. > [@Matthew 11:18-19](#): > > For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. > > The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/40 "2021-07-13T16:40:49Z")
That’s generally understood not to say anything about the eating or drinking habits of Jesus, but to show that he was perhaps not well-received in His own time. After all, John is criticized for _not_ eating and drinking (i.e., _too much_ asceticism), while Jesus is called a glutton and a drunkard for eating and drinking. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317.md?page=3)