Even though Jesus was God He operated as fully man while he walked the earth.

In School of Ministry we learned something that I had never heard taught.  I had always known that Jesus was God and man, however I thought He operated as both while He was here.  How else could He have done all that He did? 

A different view was presented in class.  When Jesus came to earth, He laid aside His deity.  Jesus functioned completely as a man, anointed by the Holy Spirit, and not as God while here on the earth. How do we know that Jesus was operating as a man?  He did things only a man would do.  For example Luke 2:40 says, "And the child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him."  If Jesus was operating as God He wouldn't need grace or to be to be filled with wisdom because He would already have it all.  Luke 2:52 says that Jesus increased in wisdom.  Jesus also got hungry, tired, and didn't know something which are all traits of humans, not God.  In Luke 4:18 He says the the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has annointed me.  God wouldn't need to be annointed but man would.  Also, Jesus didn't perform His first miracle until He was 30 when He was filled with the Spirit.  John 5:19 and 5:30 both say that Jesus could do nothing of Himself, but only what He saw the Father do. 

Knowing that Jesus functioned as a man anointed by the Holy Spirit means that everything He did we can also do with the help of the Holy Spirit.  The Word says we will do greater things than He did.  How is this possible?  We have the Holy Spirit indwelling us.  He is the same Spirit that indwelt Jesus and He never leaves us.  Just as Jesus healed the sick and performed miracles, so can we.  Jesus told us in Matthew 10:8 to, "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.  Freely you have received, freely give."  We must take Him at His word.  If He said to do it, He must have first equipped us.