Jesus Christ is an avatar of God. This means that the acts of Jesus Christ were the most efficient possible. If He played chess, he would win over any other adversary. (However He most probably never played chess.)
“I indeed baptize you in water for repentance, but he who comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.” (Mt. 3:11)
“He preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and loosen.” (Mrk. 1:7)
“John answered them all, “I indeed baptize you with water, but he comes who is mightier than I, the latchet of whose sandals I am not worthy to loosen…” (Luke 3:16)
“He is the one who comes after me, who is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to loosen.” (Jn. 1:27)
This means that John the Baptizer was not even able to carry out the task of carrying shoes efficiently enough to be worthy to do so in the presence of Jesus. This is in spite of Jesus saying that John was the greatest of men (at least of these who were before Jesus).
“Most assuredly I tell you, among those who are born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptizer; yet he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.” (Mt. 11:11)
“For I tell you, among those who are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptizer, yet he who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he.” (Luk. 7:28)
(Who does Jesus mean by the least in the Kingdom of Heaven? It could refer to the least of the angels, but perhaps it refers to the least of those saved after Christ's death.)
“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. But John would have hindered him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me?’ But Jesus, answering, said to him, ‘Allow it now, for this is the fitting way for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he allowed him.” (Mt. 3:13-15)
It is just my guess, but I suspect that it was a “reverse baptism.” The water of the world was baptized by Jesus, rather than Jesus being baptized by water, for the purpose of making water to better be able to baptize us.
“At that time, Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the grain fields. His disciples were hungry and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said to him, ‘Behold, your disciples do what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.’” (Mt. 12:1-2)
“It happened that he was going on the Sabbath day through the grain fields, and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of grain. The Pharisees said to him, ‘Behold, why do they do that which is not lawful on the Sabbath day?’” (Mrk 2:23-24; Luk. 6:1-2)
Note that He allowed His disciples to do it, but He strictly followed the law, refusing to violate it even in the slightest.
How did Jesus perform His wonders? He laid aside his divine power and did the wonders only through the power of the Holy Spirit. He did so to be our example; the common man would not be able to use divine power to do mighty works on their own, and neither would Jesus.
“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit…” (Luk. 4:1)
“Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee…” (Luk. 4:14)
This means that by the Holy Spirit, Jesus has access to the force to raise tons with His hands. Read in my book “End of Gospel” how I (for a limited amount of time) had a similar power.
In my opinion, God being incarnated in Jesus means the following: He decided to make a man who does the most efficient acts possible, but with reasoning limited to these facts which the man (Jesus) is able to see or hear with human senses. God decided to limit Christ's acts into this man form for the human life of Jesus.
Jesus possessed not only the five human senses but also telepathy.
“Immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, said to them, ‘Why do you reason these things in your hearts?’” (Mrk 2:8)
“Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, ‘Why do you think evil in your hearts?’” (Mt. 9:4)
“Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them…” (Mt. 12:25)
“Jesus, perceiving the reasoning of their hearts…” (Luk. 9:47)
“He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, ‘You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas’ (which is by interpretation, Peter).” (Jn. 1:42)
See also Jn. 1:47-50; 4:17-18; 6:61. He (using telepathy), knew all men living on the Earth.
“But Jesus didn’t trust himself to them, because he knew everyone, and because he didn’t need for anyone to testify concerning man; for he himself knew what was in man.” (Jn. 2:24-25)
If Jesus wasn't limited to information from human senses, He wouldn’t have needed to hear that John was delivered up in order to know that it occurred.
“Now when Jesus heard that John was delivered up, he withdrew into Galilee.” (Mt. 4:12)
However, there is a different explanation for why He needed to hear it (if He knew all). He may have wanted for others to hear it before going to Galilee. He heard it at the same time as the others, so this meant that He was doing it only after others heard this news. However this explanation seems unlikely for me, and I instead suppose that Jesus’ decisions were limited by information received from human senses. Christ knows everything, but He made a conscious choice not to use all of this information he had access to, choosing instead to rely solely on the human senses in control of Jesus.
“The Jews therefore marveled, saying, ‘How does this man know letters, having never been educated?’” (Jn. 7:15)
He knew everything that happened before His birth. “Now, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world existed.” (Jn. 17:5)
One thing He did with His unlimited mind was to calculate the number of hairs on the heads of His disciples.
“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” (Mt. 10:30)
“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered…” (Luk. 12:7)
Jesus remembered His life before the incarnation. “Yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these” (Mt. 6:29)
“Consider the lilies, how they grow. They don’t toil, neither do they spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” (Luk. 12:27)
Notice in these verses He says he remembers meeting King Solomon.
Why did Jesus has allowed the demons to go to into a herd of pigs? Mrk. 5:12-13; Luk. 8:32-33 A possible explanation is to make it known to us that demons are real and that they may enter pigs.
“He didn’t allow him, but said to him, ‘Go to your house, to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how he had mercy on you.’” (Mrk. 5:19)
Sometimes Jesus asked questions:
“He asked the scribes, ‘What are you asking them?’” (Mrk. 9:16)
“He said to them, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’” (Mrk. 10:36)
This doesn’t mean that Jesus didn't know the answer. He just wanted to make the person He questioned speak up so others could hear the answer.
“They rose up, threw him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill that their city was built on, that they might throw him off the cliff. But he, passing through the midst of them, went his way.” (Luk. 4:29-30)
“Therefore they took up stones to throw at him, but Jesus was hidden, and went out of the temple, having gone through the midst of them, and so passed by.” (Jn. 8:59)
I think this means that Jesus moved with such great skill through the crowd that they were led by him to disturb each other in an attempt to catch Him.
“No one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven.” (Jn. 3:13)
This means that Christ remained in heaven even when He was visiting the Earth. (Could it be otherwise with the electromagnetic waves of the Universe?)
“But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is still working, so I am working, too.’” (Jn. 5:17)
So the theological theory that God presented Himself only as the Father, then only as the Son, and then only as Holy Spirit is wrong. Both the Father and Son worked at the same time.
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” (Mt. 4:1)
“He was there in the wilderness forty days tempted by Satan…” (Mrk. 1:13)
“… being tempted by the devil…” (Luk. 4:2)
“For we don’t have a high priest who can’t be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin.” (Heb. 4:15)
“For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.” (Heb. 2:18)
Why was Jesus tempted? He always makes the right decisions and thus never could fall into a temptation. The answer is He was tempted so that others (people, angels, and so on) could see and learn from His responses to temptation.
This world and the evil in it exist with a purpose: Various situations present themselves for us should we be tempted. If we pass through a temptation, it is to set the world free from a particular wrong mode of action committed by certain kinds of persons. We need to overcome temptations with faith. Using our faith to set us free from a temptation is essential.
Why Jesus refused to kneel before Devil
“Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory. He said to him, ‘I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me.’” (Mt. 4:8-9)
Jesus refused to accept this offer of the Devil.
Have you ever wondered why Jesus refused this offer by the Devil? Think about what he was asking. Satan was willing to give all of his earthly power to Jesus if he would only bow the knee one time. He didn’t even place any conditions on how long Jesus had to bow. Jesus could have bowed for less than a second and the devil would have given him the world. So why didn’t he take what would seem to be an incredible bargain? After all, couldn’t he have done so more as a formality like bowing in the presence of royalty without actually engaging in worship? All that would change would be the position of his body, not his heart.
I'd compare the interactions of Jesus Christ and the Devil to rivals in a chess game. One of the key elements of a chess game is the concept of sacrificing a valuable piece to obtain victory. It is in this light that the reason for Christ’s refusal can be inferred by the next move. “Then Jesus said to him, Satan, go behind me…” (Mt. 4:10)
“Jesus answered him, ‘Get behind me Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’” (Luk. 4:8)
By this bold statement Jesus reveals that he was the leader and all Satan can do is lead from behind. He said that the Devil will follow after him. What Jesus did here was take the time and attention of the Devil which he could have used to tempt others instead of wasting his time on Jesus who cannot be tempted.
If Jesus were to have agreed to do what the Devil required, the Devil would then have been able to count his operation with Jesus as being complete and then go on to tempt other people instead of his focusing his attention on useless attempts to tempt Jesus.
Moreover, as these verses make clear, by Satan obeying Jesus (unwillingly) he was actually serving (“worshiped” as said in this Bible verse) Christ (as Christ is God). In other words by going after Jesus, Satan ended up having to do what Jesus required of him, despite his best attempts to do otherwise.
An important thing to note here is that although the Devil tried to tempt Jesus, He didn't tempt the Devil by causing him to have the wrong opinion on anything. All Jesus did was to spend time with the Devil. If your friend (or enemy) came to your house and did something to cause him to remain in your house as long as possible, this could not rightfully be called a temptation.
After His death, Jesus was in Hell. Hell is literally under the Earth. (I suppose that Hell is the movement of Earth’s magnetic core.)
“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Mt. 12:40)
“In which he also went and preached to the spirits in prison.” (1Pet. 3:19)
“For to this end was the gospel preached even to the dead, that they might be judged indeed as men in the flesh, but live as to God in the spirit.” (1Pet. 4:6)
“Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’” (Luk. 23:43 Jesus is talking to a condemned criminal on the cross next to him who repented.)
What these passages mean is that contrary to the belief of Russian Orthodoxes there is no elapsed time between death and when a soul enters paradise. Also note that Jesus was in both paradise and Hell at the same time: “He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. Now this, He ascended, what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.” (Eph. 4:9, 10)