THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST
I Jesus as 100% Human and !00 % Divine
II The Humanity of Christ
A) A Statement of the doctrine
The Bible states in unmistakable terms that Christ became man. Thus,
from a Biblical standpoint His humanity is unquestionable:
“The word became flesh.” (John 1:14)
“God was manifest in the flesh.” (1 Tim 3:16)
“He partook of the same [flesh and blood].” (Heb 2:14)
B) The Seriousness of the doctrine
In light of the denials of Christ’s humanity that were already rampant
towards the end of the first century, the apostle John issues a stark
warning: “And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of
antichrist.” (1 John 4:3)
C) The Importance of the doctrine
a. Christ’s humanity fits Him to be our Redeemer (Heb 2:11-17)
b. Christ’s humanity enables Him to die (Heb 2:9)
c. Christ’s humanity fits Him to be our High Priest (Heb 2:17, 4:15)
d. Christ’s humanity fits Him to be the last Adam and the second man
(1Cor 15:45-47)
e. Christ’s humanity links Him with David and thus the throne of Israel
(Matt 1:1, Luke 1:32, Rom 1:3)
f. Christ’s humanity links Him to Abraham and thus the land
(Matt 1:1, Gal 3:16, Heb 2:16)
g. Christ’s humanity enables Him to fulfill the scripture
h. Christ’s humanity is essential to the fulfillment of God’s will that all
creation will be under a man (Heb 2:6-9)
III Proofs for the doctrine/Biblical Evidences
a. Jesus was conceived in the womb of Mary (Luke 1:24, 31, 36)
b. Jesus went full-term and had a human birth (Luke 2:6-7)
c. Jesus matured as a normal human child, growing and developing
as the years passed (Luke 2:40, 52)
d. He had a human body of flesh and blood (Matt 26:12, John 19:34)
e. He had, and now always will have, a body, soul and spirit
(John 2:21, 12:27, 11:33)
f. He knew sinless weariness (John 4:6), tiredness (Mark 4:38),
hunger (Matt 4:2) & thirst (John 19:28)
g. He was strengthened after agonized sweating in Gethsemane
(Luke 22:43-44)
h. He is called a man (1 Tim 2:5)
i. Jesus knew sorrow.
Matt 26:37
And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and
He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.
j. Jesus knew hunger.
Luke 4:2
" . . . being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days
He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was
hungry."
k. Jesus knew poverty.
Luke 9:58
And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have
nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."
l. Jesus knew weariness.
John4:6
Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from
His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth
hour.
IV Jesus had real human feelings and experiences.
a. Jesus was born to experience the same human experiences we all
must face.
Romans 5:12
"Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and
death through sin, and in this way death came to all men..."
Heb 4:15
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with
our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet
without sin.
Heb 5:7
During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and
petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him
from death, and he was heard because of his reverent
submission.
b. He ministered to humanity with human strength.
"God collapsed, somewhere in the narrow, winding street
leading out of the city, His bloodied back gave way under the
weight of a large wooden cross...Nowhere can we see God more
with us, more immanent..."
1 Peter 2:20-23
But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong
and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it,
this is commendable before God. To this you were called,
because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you
should follow in his steps. "He committed no sin, and no deceit
was found in his mouth." When they hurled their insults at him, he
did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead,
he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.
c. He had to learn obedience.
Hebrews 5:8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience from
what he suffered.
1. Christ experienced the full discipline of obedience --- even in
suffering.
2. Heb 5:9
"... once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation
for all who obey him..." He is the perfect High Priest, because he
learned through his own personal suffering. He was the pioneer of
our salvation.
d. His approach was much different.
He did go to the synagogue for worship and to teach, but He
spent most of His time ministering at parties, on boats, in fields,
and along the road. The main focus of Jesus' ministry was building
people. Sometimes it's called discipleship.
It meant that He shunned crowds and popularity for quiet times
alone with just a few men and women who on the surface seemed
unlikely to ever amount to much, but He saw that they were
ready to learn.
Jesus Christ shunned institutions to perpetuate the gospel, he
chose men to perpetuate his teaching.
He did not hesitate to respond with compassion to women who
had been immoral and men who were corrupt.
e. Jesus came to this earth to sanction humanity. We see God on his
knees in the upper room washing the disciple feet. (John 13)
f. Jesus came to earth to recognize the imperfections of humanity
and offer man a remedy for his imperfections.
V Rudolf Bultmann’s Objection
Bultmann has objected to the idea of a physical perception of Jesus. He
based his contention in 2 Cor 5:16 – “ Therefore from now on we
recognize no man according to the flesh, yet now we know
Him thus no longer.”
Wrong position: We cannot know Jesus through ordinary human
means of perception or empirical historical
research.
Correct position: The possibility of acquiring historical information
about Jesus cannot be excluded on the basis
of the particular text of Paul in 2Cor 5:16.
VI Jesus and the Limitation of His Knowledge
a. Mark 9:21
He asked the father of the epileptic boy, “How long has he had
this?”
b. Mark 13:32
In discussing the second coming, he said, “But of that day or that
hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the
Son, but only the Father.”
This is a straightforward declaration of ignorance on the subject.
Prepared by: JOVENAL F. LOR
