Christmas Theology (2)
Christmas Theology • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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The Humanity of Jesus
The Humanity of Jesus
The humanity of Christ refers to the reality that in his incarnation, the Son of God assumed a complete human nature with all its limitations (but without in any way surrendering his divinity), so that he might serve as humanity’s representative, substitute, and example.
From the ancient Gnostics to contemporary Muslims, many have maintained that it is incongruous with the supreme dignity of the Deity that he should sully himself with human weakness. Modern philosophy is also scandalized by the notion that only one human in a particular time and place could somehow constitute the definitive revelation of the eternal and immutable God. Even many in Christian history have sought to diminish or attenuate the full force of the true humanity of Christ. But the truth of Christ’s humanity is as significant for the gospel of salvation as the truth of his deity.
Human Needs
Sleep - Luke 8:23 “But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy.”
Food - Matthew 4:2 “And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.”
Physical Protection - Matthew 2:13–15 “Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.” When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.””
Human Body
Sweat - Luke 22:43–44 “Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”
Bled - John 19:34 “But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.”
Human Personality
Joy - John 15:11 ““These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”
Sorrow - Matthew 26:37 “And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.”
Anger - Mark 3:5 “And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.”
Human Self Awareness - John 8:40 “But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.”
Other Marks of His Humanity
He was born, grew up and became a man
He was tempted
He died after sustaining fatal injuries
Questions about His humanity
How human was he?
Was He still human after the resurrection? Jesus’s resurrection is also a human affair. He was raised in the same body in which he died, only now in glorified, immortal life. In this way Christ is, as Paul puts it, the last Adam, the true human who ushers in the age of the resurrection, the first fruits of all humanity, who will be raised on the last day (1Cor 15:45).
When He returns will He still be human? When Jesus ascended to heaven, the angel announced to the apostles that Christ would return just has he had been taken up into heaven (Acts 1:11). Again, Jesus did not shed his humanity like a garment when he entered the clouds. He remains a glorified human being and will return personally and visibly on the last day (Col 3:4).
The Purpose of Jesus’ Humanity
The Purpose of Jesus’ Humanity
To Fulfill the Law
Galatians 4:4–5 “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”
Matthew 5:17 ““Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”
To Shed His Blood
Hebrews 9:22 “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.”
Hebrews 10:5 “Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me.”
To Be Our Substitute
1 Peter 2:24 “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
To Reveal God
John 1:18 “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”
Hebrews 1:1–3 “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”
The only way we can know the Father is through the Son and the Son became a man so that we may know and understand Him.
To Be Our Example
1 Peter 2:21 “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:”
1 John 2:6 “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.”
Because Jesus became a human being following His example is something tangible for us to attempt.
To Fulfill His Promise to David
Jeremiah 23:5 ““Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.”
Luke 1:31–33 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.””
God ruling and reigning over the affairs of men is a reality under which we all live, but that does not fulfill the Davidic Covenant. David did not sovereignly rule over all the earth and humanity. David’s throne was a literal one not a spiritual one.
To Defeat Satan
1 John 3:8 “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”
Why Jesus’ literal humanity was necessary for defeating Satan we do not know entirely, but John is very clear that defeating the works of the devil was one purpose for which Christ was manifested in the flesh.
To Sympathize with Us
Hebrews 4:14–16 “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 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. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
How comforting is it to know that Jesus knows exactly what you are going through?
Jesus knew loss - Joseph probably died at an early age.
Jesus knew pain
Jesus knew needs
Jesus paid taxes
Jesus was hungry, thirsty and tired from time to time
To be a Qualified Judge
John 5:22 “For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son,”
John 5:27 “and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.”
When humanity is judged by Christ we will not be able to render the accustation “you don’t know what it was like”
In Jesus we have the perfect judge one who is both God and Man.
Why do all of these things require Jesus’ humanity? Well, at least from our human perspective, the category matters. When you give a three year old a coloring page do they really do a good job? No, it is objectively terrible, but nobody brags about being able to out color a three year old except maybe a four year old. How impressed would you be with me if I told you that I can color better than Coda? That would be a false comparison.
If Jesus was not fully human then we would at least try to level the accusation that it didn’t count. It would be easy for us to say that Jesus didn’t operate in the same category as we do. Most importantly, though, from the beginning God decreed that the Redeemer would be a human when He told Adam and Eve that He would be the seed of the woman.