Question:
When Jesus was living on Earth, did he ever draw upon his nature as God to do anything, or did he function purely as a human being in all the limitations that entails?
Answer:
As you convey in your question, Jesus is both God and man. As such, he necessarily always functioned as both God and man in his earthly ministry, because he is first and foremost a divine person, one who took on a human nature at the Incarnation (CCC 468-69). Thus, even though many of Jesus’ earthly actions did not have a visible dramatic effect one might associate with his being God, “Jesus is inseparably true God and true man” (CCC 469).
In addition, Jesus could not have performed any of his miracles by virtue of his human nature alone. Jesus especially couldn’t have atoned for the sins of the world had his redemptive death been a purely human offering. It was efficacious precisely because he is the God-man, the Incarnate Word.
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