God's Fullness
THE TRIUMPHANT GOD/MAN

Part II – The Son As God
Introduction
The things that Jesus said and did in his relationships with others during His public ministry convinced great multitudes of His exalted humanity. As we turn to an examination of Jesus' "private" life, we will accomplish two things. First, we will see further reasons why Jesus' contemporaries viewed Him as truly human. Second, we will consider facts that will help us to focus our perspective on Jesus' humanity. They were persuaded He was a man. Are we also persuaded, or are we inadvertently or subconsciously "docetic"? For example: Do we think Jesus successfully resisted temptation as a man, or do we think He had an advantage we do not have because He was God?

Jesus' Physical Aspect
Introduction
Jesus as one of us! What does it mean to be human? The answer to that question ranges far and wide in this age. Therefore, we must proceed carefully. Using the Bible as our guide, we will refer to the chart "Our Human Components" so the parameters of our question will be before us.

In modern times the advanced social sciences, especially psychology, have at last arrived at the holistic concept of personhood reflected in the Bible. The pluralistic picture of what we are as human beings is illustrated vividly by the classical Hebrew word nephesh. This word is so comprehensive that it is translated in over 150 ways in the NIV.¹ This is in sharp contrast to the ancient dualistic view of humankind found in Greek philosophy. The comprehensive view suggested in the chart is what we are looking at when we study the lives of human beings, including the human life of Jesus.

Jesus' Body
Jesus arrived in the world with a human body. His appearance was not startling. He had all the physical traits one would expect to find in a healthy baby boy. His birth was expected, as all births are expected, after about nine months of pregnancy. He was gladly received and nurtured. On the eighth day after His birth He was circumcised and named Jesus. His human body grew strong as the years passed. He grew in height. He matured into a well-adjusted full-grown man. At about the age of thirty, Jesus submitted His body to His relative John for baptism in the Jordan River (Luke 2:4-7, 21, 40, 51, 52, 3:23; Matthew 3:13-15).

During His personal ministry; Jesus showed that His body was subject to physical influences that are common to all of us. He grew weary and thirsty. Obviously, most of Jesus' travels were on foot. On one such journey He grew tired and wanted a drink of water. It was high noon when He came to Jacob's well in the village of Sychar in Samaria. Jesus stopped to rest and waited for water. At last a woman of the village came to draw water. Since Samaritans knew that Jews considered them unclean, she was surprised when Jesus said, "Give me a drink" (John 4:7).

Although mentioned only in John, this incident in the life of Jesus is familiar because of the marvelous teaching Jesus shared with the woman and the Samaritans of the village. The entire episode is even more enriching as we stand with the Samaritans and hear this man, who came to them tired and thirsty; teaching in such a way that we begin to see Him as a prophet or perhaps the Messiah. It dawns upon us that even His name, Yeshuac (the Hebrew word for Jesus: Savior) means something wonderful to us, just as Yehoshuac (the Hebrew word for Joshuac: God saves) had meant to the Hebrews in the long ago (John 4:4-42).

Two unpleasant commonalities among members of the human family are agony and death. As members of God's family, the church, we are assured that we will have suffering to endure if we are faithful. Also, we are told that death is an appointment we will miss only if the Lord returns first (Hebrews 9:27).

When we read God's Word, we find that Jesus was not exempted from these two experiences. A close reading shows that He stands at the forefront of all those who experience these two marks of humanity. Biologically speaking, His agony was so great in the Garden of Gethsemane that the sweat of His body was like great drops of blood falling to the ground. What anguish! (See 1 Peter 4:12-16; Luke 22:44.)

Jesus' death on the cross is, of course, the great watershed of human history. This event, with the subsequent resurrection, is the decisive event upon which our ultimate destiny is based. We acknowledge the centrality of the cross by our use of b.c. and a.d. It sweeps across all eras of time, both before and after the event. Jesus' death on the cross is the starkest evidence of His humanity. After He died, His corpse was removed from the cross, hastily prepared for burial, and placed in a tomb (Matthew 27:50; John 19:28, 30; Luke 23:46, 50-53).

Jesus' Emotions
Jesus expressed emotions to which we may relate. Since we are human and He was human, this ready relationship comes as no surprise. It would only be surprising if He were not human. However, it is easy to read over, these evidences of His humanity as we search for some particular teaching or example of His deity. Let us consider the following examples of the emotional expressions of Jesus as a man. We will be drawn closer to Him.

His Love
We note love first because it is first. True love is the highest expression of the human spirit. It shows that the human creature is a being made in the likeness of God, Who is love. The deepest expression of our capacity to love places us at the pinnacle of God's created life-forms. Without this capacity, we would not be fully human.

On one occasion a rich man approached Jesus with some questions about eternal life. Since this was exactly what Jesus came to offer, we may readily appreciate His willingness to engage the man in conversation. The key to the entire enlightening exchange is found in the statement: "And looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him" (Mark 10:21a; emphasis added; see also 1 John 4:8; John 11:5).

During the Galilean ministry of Jesus, He selected twelve men as apostles. From that time, the teaching and training of these men were important parts of His work. It was a challenging process. He displayed an amazing patience with them as He nurtured, disciplined, enlightened, and rebuked them. As He drew near the end of the timetable He was following in His work, the Scriptures tell us, the ultimate reason He was able to mold the lives of eleven men was so that they could proclaim the saving message even to the point of martyrdom. When that last eventful Passover Feast was at hand, John wrote of Jesus: "Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love" (John 13:1b, NIV).

What was the full extent of Jesus' love? We spoke earlier of His agony in Gethsemane and His death on the cross. It was agony It was also the foremost display of love by the One Who "so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son . . ." (John 3:16; emphasis mine). The death of Jesus "showed them the full extent of his love." Jesus' death on the cross was the greatest expression of human love that the world will ever know, because it was the perfect pattern of the love of God the Father made visible for all to see.

When perfect love abounds, there is every reason for joy. Jesus spoke of love and joy together. To the chosen apostles He said, "I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you" (John 15:9-12; emphasis mine). Jesus expressed love and joy in His life. He did more than that. He gave love and joy their ultimate meanings.

His Compassion
Compassion is one of the most endearing human qualities. It is a sign of our ability to project our humanness outside ourselves. Compassion is one of the building blocks in developing meaningful relationships. Jesus stressed the crucial role of compassion in our lives and how it says much about our service to Him. He spoke of feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, showing hospitality to strangers, providing clothes for the naked, and visiting those who are in prison. Such acts, Jesus said, would be service to Him. On the other hand, Jesus said that those with hardened hearts would come to a bad end (Matthew 25:34-46).

A hallmark of Jesus' personal ministry was compassion. He looked upon a man with leprosy and had compassion on him. He saw a large crowd containing many sick people, and He had compassion on them. He saw other crowds filled with the harassed, helpless, and wandering, and He had compassion on them. It would be difficult to imagine His ministry without compassion.

Compassion is defined as "spiritual consciousness of the personal tragedy of another or others and selfless tenderness directed toward it." Have you ever driven by a bedraggled person standing on the roadside holding up a crudely lettered cardboard sign that read: "Will work for food"? When we see on TV news the picture of a hysterical mother clutching the body of her bloody; lifeless child – killed by the inhuman, senseless slaughter of warfare – we are "moved with pity." We "feel sorry" for those in misery because we are human. Jesus had these human emotions as well, but He went further. He elevated such feelings to the highest level. He alleviated the misery and suffering of others. His humanness was spelled out in His humaneness (Mark 1:40-41, 6:34; Matthew 9:36, 14:14).

His Anger
Paradoxically, the compassion of Jesus is seen side by side with His anger. His anger was not directed against those who belittled, insulted, or injured Him. It targeted those whose hearts were so void of compassion that they could not tolerate His helping the handicapped when it seemed that He was violating a religious law. For example, while in a synagogue on the Sabbath, He noticed a man with a shriveled hand. Jesus told the man to stand before the audience, then asked them, in effect, if it would be acceptable to heal the man on the Sabbath. When they refused to answer, He looked at them "with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart . . ." (Mark 3:1-6). He was angry at those whose religious conviction left no place for compassion. They were wrong. He was right. They had hard hearts. He had compassion.

His Curiosity
Some of the most decisive evidence for the true humanity of Jesus is seen in His show of curiosity. We reject the position that the humanity of Jesus was "impersonal" – that is, abstract, not personal. Those who advocate this view seem disturbed by the implied limitations in Jesus' life, such as curiosity. Surely all must agree that to be truly human is to be limited. To deprive Jesus of this trait would be to deny, or limit, His true humanity.

Curiosity moves through the whole spectrum of life. "What's for lunch?" is a casual form of curiosity. "What is the meaning of life?" is a profound question. It seems that the record of Jesus' curiosity concerning what we may call "insignificant details" is a conscious effort by the writers of the Gospels to remind us that He was indeed human.

On one occasion, Jesus fed five thousand men, plus women and children. Before He fed them, He asked, "How many loaves do you have? Go look!" (See Mark 6:35-38.) Why did He ask this question? Did He want to impress the apostles? If so, He could have said, "Go among the crowd, and you will find five loaves of bread and two fish. Bring them to Me." Was it to impress the crowd? There is no indication the crowd heard the question put to the apostles. Why did He ask the question? He was human. Why "spiritualize" what the writer was trying to "humanize"?

One of the most astonishing questions from Jesus' lips was addressed to Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. Lazarus had died and was buried. Jesus, Who was away from their home at Bethany at the time, was notified of Lazarus's illness before he died. Jesus remained where He was for two days. Then He told His disciples that Lazarus had died. They all returned to Bethany. Even before Jesus arrived at her house, Martha went out to meet Him and was comforted. She then went to Mary and told her that Jesus had arrived and wanted to see her.

When Jesus saw her grief and also that of the others with her, He was deeply moved. He then asked, "Where have you laid him?" (John 11:34). As He came to the tomb, we are told that "Jesus wept" (John 11:35; emphasis mine). What compassion! What love! What empathy! What humanity! It has been said of this passage that "the evangelist describes his [Jesus'] sorrow in the tenderest description of his human nature to be found in all the Gospels, 'Jesus wept.'"² To this we can say, "Amen!" Not least among the shining clues of His humanity within this precious passage, however, is the innocent and childlike query: "Where have you laid him?" (John 11:1-36).

Jesus exhibited that He was truly human in His body and emotions. There was nothing "impersonal" about the humanity of Jesus. His manhood was not a clever facade. It was as real and true as His deity.

Jesus' Spiritual Aspect
Introduction
In examining the humanity of Jesus, it seems that actually we should be searching for ways in which He was like us. However, the reverse is the challenge. We should be searching for ways to emulate His life as a human being. It is obvious that this is a demanding task. We all realize that when we read the Beatitudes in Matthew 5. A complicating factor may make our task more difficult. We may not be sure of our own humanity. For example, how do we view spirit and soul? Jesus had spirit and soul. So do we. These are constituent parts of His humanity and ours. How does the Christian who desires to be like Jesus cope with his own spirit and soul? Admittedly, the question is a difficult one. How can we appreciate more the place of spirit and soul in Jesus as a human being?

His Spiritual Nature Defined
First, we should think of spirit (pneuma) and soul (psuche) as nonmaterial. In that sense they are both "spiritual." Therefore, both spirit and soul are of one essence, that is, spirit. Why, then, do we make the distinction? What is that distinction? Sometimes it is difficult to discern between the two because of the seemingly interchangeable use of the two words.

We find that in the spirit (pneuma) rests our immortality: Luke recorded that among the last words of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was this prayer: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (Acts 7:59). When Jesus was dying on the cross, He said, "Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit" (Luke 23:46). He was quoting Psalm 31:5, where the equivalent Hebrew word (ruach) is found. These examples reflect both the Hebrew Bible and New Testament view that "the spirit will return to God who gave it" (Ecclesiastes 12:7b). We see, then, that one's spirit (pneuma) is the heightened, immortal part of his being.

On the other hand, there is the soul (psuche), which is also nonmaterial. However, the soul is not the heightened nature of man. It is the seat, or channel, of the human passions that we may call natural, or animal. Jude spoke of people who place priority on the animal, or natural, part of their being. He said: "These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit" (v. 19). Jude called the men psuchikoi, "natural," men. Since psuche is not flesh, we understand that Jude and other New Testament writers used this word to indicate the immaterial nature that had surrendered to the desires and appetites of the flesh (sarx).

Since the "flesh" is the mortal (natural, animal) part of man, it is not surprising that "warfare" rages between the immortal and mortal aspects of humankind. This is not to say that the natural part of human beings is, by its nature, evil: “Flesh and spirit are incompatible only when flesh forgets to trust in the God who is Spirit and trusts in itself, Jeremiah 17:5ff.; 2 Chronicles 32:8.”³

Then, there is the body (soma). Body is form. It even applies to inanimate objects. Paul spoke of seeds as having bodies; he mentioned earthly bodies such as birds and fish; he spoke of heavenly bodies like the sun and stars (1 Corinthians 15:36-41). This term also applies to all living things. For example, James spoke of horses' bodies (3:3).

More to our concern is that soma also applies to our human bodies. Our body is the manifestation of our individuality. It is amazing that no set of fingerprints is like another. Our bodies testify to our existence as persons. As God's creatures, we live, move, and have our being in the bodies with which we are born. Our bodies are corporeal. As such, they are not immortal. However, while here on Earth they are the instruments through which we express our "being," in the sense of existing, or living.

With all of this in mind, perhaps we may appreciate Paul's prayer for the Thessalonian Christians even more: "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit [pneuma] and soul [psuche] and body [soma] be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:23). In other words, Paul was praying that their entire spiritual, human, and physical natures would be kept blameless before God.

"Body" (soma) is not on the chart presented earlier. That is because it is not actually "there." The body is our form of being. It is the localized, individual instrument in which and through which all of the elements of the chart function in intimate relationship. In this way, we express our individual persons, or personalities.

His Spiritual Nature Exhibited
We have been considering our humanity in the context of spirit, soul, and body in order to understand and appreciate the humanity of Jesus. His humanity involved all of these features. Now we ask, "How did He show His spiritual nature as a human being?"

His Life of Prayer
We see this aspect of His life in at least two remarkable ways. First, we will consider His prayer life. It was astounding. God the Son was the Son of God both before and after the incarnation. Why, then, did God the Son pray to God the Father? God the Son was human, too. He was as human in His humanity as He was divine in His deity!

We find in the KJV and RSV that Jesus "withdrew [himself] into [to] the wilderness, and prayed" (Luke 5:16). The NIV catches the frequent, or repetitive, sense of the present participles and plural noun by translating: "Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." He prayed alone on a mountainside in the evening before He walked on the water to join His disciples (Matthew 14:23). He prayed by Himself in the early morning darkness at Capernaum (Mark 1:35). He was on a mountainside all night in prayer just before He chose His apostles (Luke 6:12). He was praying in private immediately before He asked His disciples who the crowd thought He was (Luke 9:18). He went up the Mount of Transfiguration to pray (Luke 9:28-29). He prayed privately just before He gave a lesson on prayer to His disciples (Luke 11:1).

Why was all of this recorded by the Gospel writers? Perhaps the fact that Jesus prayed often in private is a more profound testimony of His humanity than we have ever imagined.

We know, perhaps from personal experience, that human life without prayer is desolate and barren. The content of prayer will vary greatly. Prayer is a bedrock of stability for all who would pattern their lives after the praying Christ. Human life cannot expect to survive apart from God and the practice of prayer by which we express our love and adoration, dependence, gratitude, and pleas. Jesus entered into prayer to His Father constantly. He is our example.

When we are told the content of Jesus' prayers, we are moved to praise, rejoicing, thanksgiving, and tears. Pause to ponder the impact of Jesus' statement to Peter: "I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail" (Luke 22:32a). Although this is one of the unique statements in the Scriptures, it is sufficient to assure us that Jesus is interested enough in you and me to intercede for us in prayer, individually. What a marvelous manifestation of humanity expressing spirituality! In our prayers for others, we are placing their lives under the providence of God's grace, love, forgiveness, and strength. Jesus prayed to His Father for individuals, just as we do. Prayer is indeed a mark of true humanity expressing itself spiritually!

John 17 is the most extensive recorded prayer of Jesus. It is extensive not only in length but also in scope. He prayed for Himself, His disciples, and all those who would become believers through their message. Was He praying for all believers, as He did for Peter, "that your [our] faith may not fail"? (See Luke 22:31-32.) Isn't that our constant prayer for our comrades in Christ?

Much more could be, should be, and will be said about the prayer life of Jesus. His prayers in Gethsemane and on the cross display His humanity more vividly than any others.

His Death at Calvary
It is easy to read Jesus' Gethsemane experience as we might watch an educational program on TV We may notice the props. We may appreciate the techniques of the presenters. We may even be influenced by their "acting" ability. Oh, yes, we see that there is a lesson to be learned, but we may not view it as being real. We may see it as merely a presentation. Was Jesus, the Master Teacher, just presenting another lesson in Gethsemane? Was He simply trying to teach us that if we will take our troubles to God He will give us relief? No! Before praying, Jesus said, "My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death." As He prayed, He said, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me." In anguish, He prayed so earnestly that "His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground." He also prayed, "Yet not as I will but as Thou wilt" (Matthew 26:36-45; Mark 14:32-40; Luke 22:39-46).

Jesus was not "acting" in the garden. His grief was real. Jesus was engaged in the most difficult struggle of His life, the cross excepted. He was fighting the cosmic battle of good and evil. He was not fighting "impersonally," abstractly. This contest was focused on the person of Jesus, as a man, fighting against the devil! God the Father had centered His grand plan of redemption in the human Jesus. Would that plan be thwarted in Gethsemane? Would Jesus yield to the temptation to forego "the cup"?

Unless we exert a strenuous mental self-discipline as we review this dramatic scene, we will be diverted from the fundamental reason for Jesus' agony. Something literally was hanging in the balance. A gigantic struggle was in progress. The humanity of Jesus did not turn into deity to give Jesus the advantage over Satan. God cannot be tempted by evil (James 1:13); human beings can. Jesus was tempted. He was human. He won the battle as a human being, the way we human beings win ours. If we win, we do so by fervent prayer to the Father, trusting in His power and willingness to sustain us (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Jesus showed His true humanity in Gethsemane and on the cross. If we cherish His humanity as His Father did, we will not try to rob Him of it by insisting that He was victorious because He was God. His prayers were sincere. The Father was with Him. He answered His prayers – not by removing "the cup," but by strengthening Him so that Jesus could physically carry out the will of the Father (Luke 22:43). Therefore, Jesus could say with certainty, "The cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?" (John 18:11b).

Jesus won the skirmish against Satan when He was tempted in the wilderness. He won a fierce battle in Gethsemane. Paradoxically; He won His greatest victory at the cross. As He Himself taught, "He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake shall find it" (Matthew 10:39). Jesus was tempted to "find His life" in Gethsemane – but He refused. Instead, He "lost" His life at the cross for our sakes.

Never to let that thought go. It is crucial for salvation. If Jesus was not truly a man, if His humanity was in some sense unreal, an appearance or a disguise, if the Figure in the Gospels was an unearthly, angelic visitant, a demigod in human shape, then the whole doctrine of redemption falls to the ground. Hold on to the full humanity of Jesus!⁴

The Culmination of Jesus' Humanity
Introduction
What was the culmination of Jesus' humanity? We have suggested that the two greatest examples of Jesus as "fully man" were His life of prayer and His death at Calvary. This is said because prayer that is worthy of the name and the seriousness with which we view death is evidence of the dependency and inadequacy of mere humanity. In prayer we seek the will of One upon Whom we depend; in death we anticipate the life in Him that transcends mortality.

In the Scriptures, we hear Jesus praying and see Him dying on the cross. These experiences are convincing expressions of Jesus' true humanity. He was not seizing an opportunity to teach us how to pray when He cried from the cross, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Mark 15:34). He was calling out from the depths of emotional agony and physical suffering so profound that none of us can comprehend it. We cannot comprehend it because we have never been there, never will be there, cannot be there. We have never been the Creator Who Himself became a creature. We have never been deity Who emptied Himself of that glory to become a man. You and I may live noble lives and die painful deaths, but we will never live sinless lives, and we will never offer ourselves as perfect sacrifices. No other will be left as Jesus was, hanging on a cross in utter loneliness and excruciating torment.

Not only did Jesus live the most completely exemplary life that was ever lived (Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22), but He also died the most completely ignominious death that anyone ever died (2 Corinthians 5:21). It took the most exalted experiences of living and the most extreme experience of dying for Jesus, as a man, to accomplish His mission. He did not come to earth merely to set an example for us to follow (1 Peter 2:21). Neither did He come merely to teach wonderful words of life (John 6:63). John wrote: "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him" (John 3:17).

His mission required more than being born, living, and dying. To accomplish His mission, His birth had to be unique, His life had to be flawless, and His death had to be extremely real. In all aspects of His life on Earth, Jesus radiated a human nature superior to that of any other human being who has ever lived. He was perfect – not because He was "half-God," but because He was truly human and still lived without spot or blemish. Jesus was the single instance in all history of a man who lived not only a superior life but also a sinless life – from birth through death.

His Death
How was this singularly pure and peaceful Jesus to accomplish His mission to save the lost? That was the crux of Gethsemane. He had willed that His Father's will be done: "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all . . ." (1 Timothy 2:5-6a). Jesus had said, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).

Why sacrifice such a pure and endearing Person – and why must the death be so severe, so extreme? Because of the exalted holiness of God. Because of His immutability and absolute justice. His holiness abhors sin; His justice requires that every sin be punished. There are no loopholes. God is not like an indulgent parent who waves aside the misdeeds of his children on the principle of love and tolerance. On the contrary, we are told that from of old "every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense" (Hebrews 2:2b); and, "Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses" (Hebrews 10:28). In the New Testament, we are told that "it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). Sin is serious; it is fatal if not forgiven.

Nothing short of the total sacrifice of the impeccable Christ for our sins could have fulfilled the justice required by an absolutely holy God. Therefore, the Son of God, Who willingly gave Himself completely to the will of God, His Father, paid the ransom. His body and blood (His very life) provided a sacrifice of such immeasurable worth that all the requirements of God's justice were fulfilled. This leaves the Father in complete harmony with His total Being when He forgives those who accept this gift. "Mercy triumphs over judgment!" (James 2:13b; emphasis mine).

As Jesus was dying, He said, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing"; "It is finished!"; "Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit" (Luke 23:34; John 19:30; Luke 23:46). "It is finished!" It is perhaps impossible for the human mind to grasp fully the significance of those words. Jesus knew, however; and in spite of the horrible death pangs He suffered, He died serenely There remained now the journey home to His Father, starting with His resurrection from a borrowed tomb. His humanity had been extended to its limits. His very birth was glorious (Luke 2:6-7, 13-14). His life was supremely pure. Paradoxically, His death was His triumph. He had come to do the Father's will (John 6:38), and He had done it!

His Resurrection
Jesus' resurrection was His vindication – and what a resurrection! Unheard by human ears, untouched by human hands, unseen by human eyes, hardly grasped by human minds, Jesus returned to the land of the living.

In the interim between His resurrection and His ascension, He was seen by hundreds of people (1 Corinthians 15:1-8). Many of Jesus' appearances after His resurrection were cloaked with a mantle of strangeness, from the human point of view. Note a few examples. Mary Magdalene went early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, to the site where Jesus had been buried. When she found the tomb open, she thought that His body had been removed. While she was weeping, Jesus appeared and spoke to her. He said, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren, and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God'" (Read John 20:1-18).

When a group of women told the eleven apostles that Jesus had been raised, "These words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them" (Read Luke 24:6-11). Even after Peter saw the empty tomb, "he went away to his home, marveling at that which had happened" (Luke 24:12b). Later that same day, two men ate with Jesus. They did not recognize Him at first; as soon as they recognized Him, He disappeared (Luke 24:13-31). Shortly afterward, in Jerusalem, Jesus appeared to those who had gathered with the apostles. "They were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit." He assured them that He was not a ghost, showing them that He was of flesh and blood, with crucifixion scars in His hands and feet (Luke 24:36-43).

A week later Jesus appeared to all of His apostles who were in a room with locked doors. Thomas had not been present when Jesus had appeared to them earlier. He had expressed disbelief about Jesus' resurrection. He was now with them. Jesus spoke to him: "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe. Thomas said to Him, 'My Lord and my God!'" (John 20:27-28; emphasis added).

When Jesus appeared to the eleven apostles in Galilee and gave them the Great Commission, "they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful" (Matthew 28:16-17). We read in the Gospel of Luke that during the postresurrection time Jesus appeared to the apostles over a period of forty days. With many convincing proofs He showed that He was alive, according to Acts 1:3. At last, He took them out to the Mount of Olives, near Bethany, and was taken up into heaven (Luke 24:50-51).

Why have we said that many of these events were cloaked with a mantle of strangeness? Is it because the disciples had difficulty in accepting the resurrection of Jesus? Obviously, many did find it difficult, but this is not unexpected. After all, Jesus' resurrection was the first and only time in the history of the entire world that anyone died, was buried, and resurrected himself! It may be easy to discuss resurrection theologically, as a doctrine; it is not so easy to conceptualize it as a literal event. Resurrection involves a netherworld dimension with which we cannot relate on the basis of any personal experience. Was it strange that some of Jesus' followers were frightened at His appearance? Not at all. Consider the effect of seeing someone standing before you – someone Whom you had seen crucified and buried a few days before. If you fully believed the living person was the same one you had seen dead and buried, you would certainly sense an atmosphere of "other-worldliness." You would know this was a "back-from-the-beyond" person. You would know that something strange was happening.

The unusual was swirling around the resurrection and the subsequent appearances of Jesus. The apostles demonstrated this by their varied reactions. Also, Jesus contributed to this atmosphere by His own words, actions, and appearances. After His resurrection He said, "Stop clinging to Me, . . . I have not yet ascended to the Father" (John 20:17). Jesus said to Peter concerning John, "If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?" (John 21:23b). His appearances were often under extraordinary circumstances. Jesus had never appeared or disappeared through closed, locked doors before. He was not easily recognized at times. Events had taken a strange turn.

The earthly sojourn of Jesus was complete. What an episode! What a life! What a Savior! Have you ever considered the ingenuity of God? How could God, Who is omnipresent, "drop in on the world," spend some "time" here, and return to an eternity in which He is always simultaneously present? How could He do this without upsetting the balance of His creation? How could He "contain" His unlimited power so as not to cause chaos in our galaxy and cataclysmic upheaval on the Earth? The answer is found in Jesus Christ, because "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself" (2 Corinthians 5:19a).

As we consider how this glorious feat was accomplished, we note that two great transitions are apparent in the life of Christ. The first was a shift in emphasis from deity to humanity. The infant Jesus arrived amid echoes of an angelic chorus, but He was wrapped in bands of cloth and laid in a manger. He was of virgin birth, but He was thought to be the son of Joseph.⁵ So it was all His life. Deity was manifested in fashion as a man. The incarnation was real. Paul wrote:

"Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:5-8).

The second transition was a shift of emphasis from humanity to deity. His humanity had veiled His deity. Amid this "strangeness" of transition, Thomas was at last able to see through the veil that was lifting. He spoke to Jesus, saying, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28; emphasis mine). This was only one man's confession, you might say. This is true, but in God's revelation of Himself to humanity it was the historic, pivotal turning point in man's ability to perceive and confess the significance of that revelation.

This transition was consummated at the ascension. Jesus did not merely disappear one day, never to be seen alive again. As He was talking to His apostles, "He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight" (Acts 1:9). Thus the transition from emphasis on humanity to deity was complete.

These two incredible transitions do not affirm, of course, that Jesus became less God and more human at His birth or that He became less human and more God at His death. We have merely analyzed the dominant manifestation apparent in each transition. What we learn is that God's redemptive work in Christ Jesus is not so simplistic as to be self-evident. However, once grasped, its reflection of God's love, grace, and mercy moves us to surrender our own lives to Him in faith, love, gratitude, and service.

Even so, the hymnic proclamation found in the Bible, sometimes called the song of the incarnation, is an appropriate theme with which to close our study of "God the Son": "And by common confession great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the Spirit, beheld by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, and taken up in glory" (1 Timothy 3:16).

Footnotes:
¹Edward W. Goodrick and John R. Kohlenberger III, eds., The NIV Exhaustive Concordance (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1990), 1546-47.
²Wilbert E. Howard, The Interpreter's Bible, ed. George Arthur Buttrick (New York: Abingdon, 1952), 8:646.
³Edmond Jacob, "psuche," in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Gerhard Friedrich, trans. and ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1974), 9:630.
⁴James S. Stewart, The Strong Name (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1972), 76.
⁵Luke 1:34-35, 2:33-34, 41-42, 48, 3:23; Matthew 13:55-56; John 6:42.