# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**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, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/41 "2021-07-13T16:43:25Z")
But my general impression from the gospels is that Jesus’s normal daily life was not particularly ascetic, in the way John (the Baptist)'s was. ---
**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, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/42 "2021-07-13T16:52:02Z")
True, not like JohntB. > **[The Ascetic Jesus](https://brill.com/view/journals/jshj/8/2/article-p146_2.xml)** > > Abstract New Testament scholars have long been divided on the question of Jesus' asceticism. This study will argue that the historical Jesus should be identified as a first-century Jewish ascetic. Here, asceticism is conceptualized as a sociological,... _This study will argue that the historical Jesus should be identified as a first-century Jewish ascetic._ [https://www.thenazareneway.com/christ\_in\_islam/ascetic\_sayings\_of\_jesus.htm](https://www.thenazareneway.com/christ_in_islam/ascetic_sayings_of_jesus.htm) > **[The Ascetic Teaching of Jesus and the Apostles](http://akensidepress.com/books/pourrat/)** > > The classic text of ascetical theology by Fr Pierre Pourrat. ---
**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, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/43 "2021-07-13T17:22:11Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > But my general impression from the gospels is that Jesus’s normal daily life was not particularly ascetic, in the way John (the Baptist)'s was. I’m no expert, but my view is the same. While John was a desert mystic and ascetic (and perhaps, according to some, a member of a Jewish sect known as Essenes), Jesus was not, preferring to go out into the world. The Gospels don’t record any unusual ascetic practices on the part of Jesus. Except, perhaps, celibacy, but even there, Jesus not being married is not the same as preaching celibacy – there’s no record of Jesus saying that sex (in marriage) is inherently bad (Paul might be a different story). ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/44 "2021-07-13T18:34:30Z")
I was always taught he did not, except from the Garden of Gethsemane onward, when he was intentionally refraining from healing himself, starting with being so upset that he cried blood to the point when he died of asphyxiation because his muscles gave out from the pain of pushing himself up to breathe. That said, he did fast, despite having the ability to feed himself, so I could see him staying sick despite having the ability to heal himself. Still, if it were important that he did that, I’d expect come mention. The closest we get is being told Jesus is tired and taking a nap. As for the current discussion about ascetism and John, I’d still say those verses indicate that John presented himself as an ascetic while Jesus didn’t. Luke 7:33-34 elaborate a bit: > [33] For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. [34] The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! Given that his first miracle was at a wedding party, where her turned water into wine, and he was condemned elsewhere for eating with “tax collectors and sinners”—the former being those who got a decent amount of money and decadence—it all fits. Sure, the point of the verse is to say that “you’ll always find something wrong with those you tell you you’re wrong” but Jesus does seem to reveal actual differences in how he and John were perceived. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/45 "2021-07-13T19:47:22Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Why wouldn’t He just cure himself immediately? He was able to cure lepers, right? Apparently He generally didn’t use supernatural powers when it suited Him - the devil asked Him, for instance, “if You can, why don’t You turn these stones into bread?” when He was hungry in the wilderness. And when resurrected, He asked for food (fish) from disciples even though He was perfectly able to just produce food of any sort had He wanted. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/46 "2021-07-13T19:50:49Z")
In the wilderness case, wasn’t He there on purpose to experience that kind of devastation? I can’t really explain the resurrection one, though – maybe it was His way of interacting with His disciples to show that He was really back. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/47 "2021-07-13T20:30:52Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > I can’t really explain the resurrection one, though – maybe it was His way of interacting with His disciples to show that He was really back. Was there a need to prove that He was physically resurrected an not a hologram or something? ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/48 "2021-07-13T20:55:57Z")
As I take it, It appears Jesus could not be given special/unique abilities that we are without access to doing ourselves. We get sick, he should also, or else we could boast over Jesus. However this does not mean that there were some conditions that we may have been able to overcome (but failed, or never realized it was possible) which Jesus was able to by faith, prayer and obedience, but not all illnesses are cured that way. So Jesus could have avoided a lot of disease and had His discomfort eased. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2021, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/49 "2021-07-14T00:26:09Z")
He burned all his spell levels on _true resurrection_, and didn’t have any left for _create food and water_? ---
**Author:** ![HughGoply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hughgoply/32/7834_2.png) [@HughGoply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HughGoply)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2021, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/50 "2021-07-14T01:45:35Z")
Possibly not, if he was without original sin. " What are the consequences of this first sin? Man still had the image of God, but it was now “tarnished” or “dimmed.” Their bodies became grossly material and became subject to sickness, corruption and death. The Garden with the tree of life was no longer open for them. This is the condition we inherit from Adam and Eve. This is what we call “ancestral sin.” We do not inherit the guilt for the bad choice that Adam made, but we inherit the consequence of his sinfulness, the change in nature he experienced, his body becoming subject to death and corruption. Since we are all descendants of Adam and Eve we all inherit their changed nature that resulted from the fall." > **[What is the consequence of the original sin? | Saint George Greek Orthodox...](https://stgeorgegreenville.org/our-faith/catechism/the-ofall/consequence-sin)** > > The Website of Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2021, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/51 "2021-07-14T03:27:01Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > 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. You clearly have a religious knowledge that’s far more theoretical than practical. I can absolutely assure you that a great deal of what theologians talk about and write about NEVER filters down to the bulk mass of the faithful church-goers. And if you had bothered to read for comprehension, it would have been abundantly clear to you that I was talking about the average people, not the academics and theologians. ---
**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 14, 2021, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317/52 "2021-07-14T14:34:43Z")
Please accept my abject apology for my poor reading skills. I’ll work on my “reading for comprehension.” Thank you for your fraternal correction, no doubt offered in a true spirit of charity. 🙄 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-suppose-jesus-ever-got-sick/946317.md?page=2)