God the Son
HIS HUMANITY AFTER THE INCARNATION
God the Son
HIS HUMANITY AFTER THE INCARNATION
We have stated that without Jesus’ deity we would not have been created and without His humanity we could not be saved.
We have dwelt at considerable length on the deity of Jesus. This is as it should be. The need exists. Consider America, for example. A recent poll asked the question: “Is religion increasing or losing its influence in American life?” Of those who answered, 21% said that religion is increasing in influence; 65% said it is losing in influence. George Gallup, Jr., a leading national pollster, has said that America is “a nation of biblical illiterates. The stark fact is, most Americans don’t know what they believe or why.” If that is true of many who profess “Christianity” as their faith, what of the billions of people alive today who make no claim to Christianity in any form? Yes, there is a need to present a convincing thesis that Jesus the Nazarene was as human as we are. How else could we have an understanding, forgiving Savior Who has truly suffered and withstood temptation? “Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted” (Hebrews 2:17-18).
Some have taught that Jesus was only spirit – that God could not coexist with flesh. On the contrary, Jesus was flesh. He hungered (Matthew 4:2), He thirsted (John 19:28), and He became weary (John 4:6). His earthly body poured forth tears (John 11:35), sweat (Luke 22:44), and blood (John 19:34). Those who were with Jesus knew that He was an extraordinary man, but they had no doubt that He was a man.
His Humanity as Evidenced Outside the Bible: We have dealt extensively with the deity of Jesus. When we speak of deity, we speak of God, a Supreme Being. When we wish to identify God in Person, we speak of God the Father, God the Son, or God the Spirit. We have seen that Jesus is God the Son. Jesus is God Incarnate, God-in-flesh. The Docetics rejected the humanity of Jesus because they believed God (pure spirit) could not identify Himself so intimately with impure matter (flesh). That was heresy; it still is. Why all the fuss? Is not God the Savior? Why is it so important to understand that Jesus was human?
The humanity of Jesus brings us to the startling realization that God became flesh in order to save humanity. From early times man has been taught that life is in blood. Bloodshed was required in sacrifice for sins, yet the blood of animals could not remove sin (Leviticus 17:11; Hebrews 10:4). Therefore, in order to save us from our sinful state, from which we could not possibly save ourselves, God the Son offered a blood sacrifice of perfect, sinless merit, the efficacy of which is unlimited (Hebrews 9:11-14). Mark it down! The blood shed on the cross was not some sort of “divine” blood. The body was not a superhuman body. The death of Jesus on the cross was not the death of God. It was the death of a human being, a man. It was a necessary sacrifice. (Would the Father have subjected His Son to this if some less costly sacrifice had been sufficient?) Therefore, to deny the humanity of Jesus would, in effect, deny our own salvation. Having stressed the divinity of Jesus and the importance of His humanity, we now turn to records affirming His historicity and His humanity.
We are primarily interested in what the Bible says about God the Son. However, during decades of preaching and teaching I have often been asked if there are any evidences for the existence of Jesus outside the Bible. The calendar year is one illustration that we are all influenced by Jesus’ presence in the world!
Questioners want literary evidence. For the benefit of those who may have wondered about evidences “outside the Bible” concerning the life of Christ, let us mention briefly a few written sources that have survived the ravages of time. Please note that we are not interpreting or evaluating these documents. We are giving them simply as evidence that Jesus is mentioned by secular historians as well as by Bible writers.
Since Jesus was a Jew Who lived and worked almost exclusively among the Jews, it is interesting to note that no responsible Jewish source takes on the task of denying that Jesus ever lived. On the contrary, extrabiblical Jewish writers indicate that He did live. For example, Josephus, a Jewish historian of the first century A.D., recorded the following in his Antiquities of the Jews: “And there arose about this time Jesus, a wise man, if indeed we should call him a man. For he was a doer of marvelous deeds (miracles), a teacher of men who receive the truth with pleasure. He led away many Jews, and also many of the Greeks. This man was the Christ!”
Evidence from Roman writers also shows that Jesus was an actual historical person. Tacitus was a Roman historian who lived through the turn of the first century until about A.D. 120. When he wrote of the fire that had destroyed much of Rome in A.D. 64 he wrote of Nero’s attempt to blame this tragedy on the Christians who lived in Rome: “Consequently, to get rid of the report [which accused him of having set fire to Rome], Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures as a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus . . .”
Although other evidence could be cited from Jewish and Roman sources, those given are enough to accomplish our purpose. Jesus was a man Who lived at a specific place and in a specific span of time in history. This is verified from the Bible and from literary sources outside the Bible that were written by men who were generally antagonistic to the early Christian movement. Even though some of the sources have been attacked by critics, the fact still remains that the historical Jesus was spoken of in extrabiblical sources. Why would writers like Josephus and Tacitus write about Jesus in relationship with other historical persons, such as Pilate and Tiberius, if Jesus never really existed?
Ancient creeds describe Jesus as “very God and very man.” This is the basis and the essence of the Christian faith. This overarching truth upon which Christianity rests was derived from the early Christian proclamation of the Gospel, which utilized much Old Testament material, and the study of the Scriptures, which continued to appear through the last half of the first century A.D.
The Baptism of the Son: Baptism is strictly a New Testament practice. The baptism being administered by John was for the Jews and was a call to repent and accept the remission of sins. The baptism of Jesus, like His birth, was exceptional. It was different from the norm.
WhenHe was thirty years of age (Luke 3:23), Jesus traveled maybe sixty miles from Nazareth (Mark 1:9) to Bethany (John 1:29) to be baptized by John. He joined the thousands who were coming out to hear John and to be baptized by him. Perhaps some were lined up, going out to John in the Jordan, to be baptized. John looked up, and the next one coming to him was Jesus. John was surprised and hesitant, but he baptized Him. The scene of His baptism illustrates the Godhead decisively: God spoke from heaven, Jesus was baptized, and the Spirit descended in the form of a dove.
The Spirit gave us three accounts of Jesus’ baptism, with Matthew’s account being the fullest: “Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. But John tried to prevent Him, saying, ‘I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?’ But Jesus answering said to him, ‘Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he permitted Him. And after being baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’” (Matthew 3:13-17; cf. Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22).
This baptism was the firstof four momentous events that formed a beautiful prelude to the public work of Jesus. First, when Jesus was baptized, the eighteen years of almost total silence was broken. Second, the Spirit descended upon Jesus in the form of a dove (Matthew 3:16). This was apparently the moment when Jesus received the Holy Spirit without measure (Luke 3:22; 4:1). Third, Jesus was acknowledged by His Father (Matthew 3:17). The Father said that Jesus was His Son and that He was well pleased with Him. Fourth, Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). J.W. McGarvey wrote: “It behoved him to be tempted, that thus sharing our nature with its weakness and temptation he might bring us to share in his nature with its strength and sinlessness.”
John was the prophet of God sent to prepare the way for the Messiah. As the connecting link between the Old Testament and the New Testament He had a twofold mission: (1) to prepare the people (Jews) for the coming of the Christ and His kingdom and (2) to identify the Messiah (John 1:23, 31-34).
What Was the Baptism of John?: John’s baptism was a baptism of expectation. It looked forward to the coming of Jesus (Acts 19:4). Those who were baptized by John pledged that they would receive the Christ when He came. John was not making disciples for himself but for the Messiah (Matthew 3:11).
John’s baptism was also a baptism of repentance (Acts 19:4). The general purpose of his baptism was to bring the people to repentance. John prepared the way for the Lord by turning the hearts of the people to righteousness. This was a new kind of repentance. Prior to this, repentance was motivated by earthly blessings; the repentance John preached called for people to repent in view of the coming of the Messiah and His kingdom.
Next, it was a baptism unto the remission of sins (Mark 1:4). This baptism – a water baptism unto the remission of sins – is the only kind of baptism commanded in the New Testament. The blood of Jesus reached backward as well as forward.
John’s baptism was also a baptism of obedience (Luke 7:30). When the baptism of John was rejected, the counsel of God was rejected. His baptism was a part of the righteousness of God.
Why Was Jesus Baptized by John?: There is a negative view. As we explore the reasons why Jesus was baptized, let us look at the negative side. First, Jesus did not need repentance. He was sinless during His entire earthly life. Hebrews 4:15 says: “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” He was perfectly righteous and could not have been more righteous.
Second, Jesus did not need the remission of sins. “Remission of sins” implies guilt of sin. Having never sinned, Jesus had no guilt to remove.
Third, He did not do it to be consecrated into the office of the priesthood. He was not a priest while on Earth. God made an exception in His case and made Him our high priest in heaven.
Fourth, He did not do it so that deity might come upon Him. He was divine from the beginning (Matthew 1:23). His baptism did not make Him divine.
There is a positive view. Let us now look at Jesus’ baptism from a positive perspective. Jesus stated specifically why He was baptized by John. He was baptized “to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). His baptism was a fulfillment. Being baptized by John would fulfill the righteousness of God. “Righteousness” should be equated with “walking according to all the commandments of God.” We read: “… all Thy commandments are righteousness” (Psalm 119:172), and: “They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord” (Luke 1:6). Jesus later asked, “The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?” (Matthew 21:25). It was the will of God for Him to be baptized by John (John 6:38). Therefore, in submitting to John’s baptism He was submitting to God’s will.
While the reason given by Jesus concerning His baptism is the only specific one to be found in the Gospels, His baptism has several significant implications. First, it implies endorsement. His baptism sanctioned the work and message of John, who was a prophet of God. Jesus’ baptism by John said something about the origins of John’s baptism. It was of God. It also said something about the purpose of John’s baptism. His baptism was part of God’s plan for the era that preceded the public ministry of Jesus.
Second, Jesus’ baptism implies commencement. At His baptism, Jesus was acknowledged as the Son of God. The Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, descended upon Him following His baptism. From this time forward, John would single Him out as the Lamb of God (John 1:32-36). At His baptism, Jesus was confessed by His Father. His quiet life in Nazareth would now be left behind. From His baptism Jesus went into the wilderness to be tempted, and from the temptations He went into His public ministry.
What Lessons Do We Learn from the Baptism of Jesus?: Jesus’ baptism does not teach us to be baptized by John. Many have said, “I’d like to be baptized just like Jesus was.” Of course, it would be impossible to be baptized “just like Jesus was.” John’s baptism was for a particular period and a particular people. His baptism is no longer valid (Acts 19:1-5). Jesus, the sinless One, was baptized simply to fulfill all righteousness. Jesus obeyed the Law because He lived under it. To be obedient to God, Jesus had to obey the Law. However, it is not God’s will for us to obey the Law today. We cannot be baptized by John today, but we can obey God for the same reasons Jesus did. We should ask, “What is the will of God for me today, that I may obey it just as Jesus obeyed His Father’s will for Him?”
His baptism does teach us the lesson of obedience. It was His Father’s will that He be baptized. Jesus gladly submitted to the baptism of John because it was the will of His Father. No one can claim that he is following the example of Jesus unless he has surrendered to the will of God. Sentimentalism is not always submission. If we have not submitted to the baptism of the Great Commission, we have not submitted to God (Matthew 28:19-20).
Jesus’ baptism also teaches us the lesson of humility. The sinful baptized the sinless. The inferior baptized the superior (Matthew 3:13-17). Humility means “losing ourselves in something bigger than ourselves” Jesus was more concerned about the Father’s will than His own image. Jesus learned obedience (Hebrews 5:8-9).
In addition, His baptism teaches us that obedience pleases our Father. After His baptism, God acknowledged Jesus as His unique Son in a public fashion. He not only said that He was pleased with Him, but He said that He was well pleased with Him. How do we please our Father? The obvious answer is that we please Him through obedience. Three times the Holy Scriptures represent God as speaking out of the heavens in testimony for Jesus Christ: at His baptism, on the occasion of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:5), and in John 12:28-30.
What Does It Mean to Follow in the Steps of Jesus?: Jesus came to do the will of His Father. The will of God for Jesus meant baptism, temptation, and the cross. What does God’s will mean for us? It means the baptism of the Great Commission, for one thing (Mark 16:15). Jesus invited us to do God’s will and showed us how. Following in the steps of Jesus means doing the will of God. If Jesus was so serious about John’s baptism, how serious ought we to be about a greater baptism, the baptism of the Great Commission?
