Was Jesus superior to man when he was in flesh?
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Trinitarian Christianity teaches that Jesus is both human and divine (i.e. Hypostatic union affirmed in the AD 451 Council of Chalcedon). That Jesus is 100% human was already affirmed before the council, for example by Early Church Father Gregory of Nazianzus (d. AD 390) who wrote in a letter to Cledonius against Apollinarism (a heresy saying Jesus has a human body but has only a divine mind without a human soul):
If anyone has put his trust in Him as a Man without a human mind, he is really bereft of mind, and quite unworthy of salvation. For that which He has not assumed He has not healed; but that which is united to His Godhead is also saved. If only half Adam fell, then that which Christ assumes and saves may be half also; but if the whole of his nature fell, it must be united to the whole nature of Him that was begotten, and so be saved as a whole.
The question then becomes whether in doing miracles Jesus depends only on the Holy Spirit or also on His divine nature? Remember that St. Peter and St. Paul, who remain 100% human to the end, also could do miracles due to the power of the Holy Spirit. Also, in the Old Testament, the prophets Elijah and Elisha did a lot of miracles while remaining 100% human.
The article How Did Jesus Do Miracles—His Divine Nature or the Holy Spirit? answers this question by pointing out some miracles that seem to be performed by Jesus's divine nature: Walking on Water (Matt 14:22-33):
But Who Really Walked on Water? Three clues in this passage, however, point to a different understanding of this miracle. First, when Jesus reveals to his fearful disciples that “it is I” (Matt. 14:27; Greek ego eimi), this isn’t a call to recognize his human features that mark him out as “Jesus from Nazareth.” Rather, he’s appropriating Yahweh’s name revealed in Exodus 3:14 (I AM: ego eimi). He’s commanding his disciples to take heart and not be afraid because he, the one walking on the water, is Yahweh.
The second clue flows from the first: Jesus is taking over an Old Testament theophany motif. Who tramples the waves of the sea but Yahweh alone (Job 9:8)? Through this and his personal identification with the divine name, Jesus is making clear the who of this miracle: the incarnate second person of the Trinity who, though veiling his heavenly glory in human flesh, didn’t abandon or mute the attributes of his divine nature (as if he ever could!). No, the Creator who first fashioned the sea now masters it through his own power.
The third clue is found in the disciples’ response to this revelation. Initially we see Peter addressing this Yahweh-incarnate-who-walks-on-water as “Lord.” But then, after Jesus gets into the boat and the wind ceases, they worship him: “Truly you are the Son of God” (Matt. 14:33). It’s clear that for the disciples this miracle bears the unmistakable marks of a divine person (cf. Ps. 107:23–32). The disciples didn’t marvel at Jesus’s complete dependence on another, nor did they ascribe praise to the Spirit’s power. Rather, their eyes are drawn to the incarnate Son of God as worthy of praise. For them, the who explained the how and ushered them into worship.
Conclusion
What is important to remember is that Jesus is a human person who possess human nature as well as divine nature. He does not have to be superhuman to do miracles, because like Paul or Elijah He could have done them by the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore we do not really know which nature did the miracles.
But, as the article points out:
It’s not wrong to say that the Spirit is acting in Jesus’s miracles; he is. It is wrong to say that the second person of the Trinity isn’t.
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