02.05. JESUS CHRIST - 01 - His Person

JESUS CHRIST – 01 – His Person Reading. Matthew 16:13-20.

THE PERSON OF CHRIST.

WHEN we deal with a subject sacred, and in some respects mysterious as this, it is well that we do not seem or seek to be wise above that which is written. We must particularly remember that our inquiry has to do with what is revealed in the Bible about the Person of Jesus our Lord. It is most desirable that in teaching the lesson close adherence be made to Scriptural statements. It is all-important that we believe what the Bible says concerning the Christ; it is not so necessary that we decide as to the speculations of men. Again, it has constantly to be borne in mind that while the facts, as facts, are plainly stated and easily accepted, the modes of these facts are beyond our comprehension. The burden of our study of the person of Jesus is simply that he was truly man and as truly God. We believe that this can easily be shown from the Scriptures. It will be no cogent reply or valid objection to say that we do not know how he could possess in one person a human and a divine nature. The youngest child in your class can accept the fact; the wisest Christian philosopher cannot explain the union of natures, or tell us more of the She’s relationship to the Father than the Scriptures state 1. The Manhood of Christ.

Since practically none to-day deny the true humanity of Jesus, it will be unnecessary to dwell long here. We know that in the early centuries of our era some heretical sects (as the Gnostics, Apollinarians, and some others) did deny this. The Apostle John condemned Gnostic theories as to our Lord not being a man, but only a phantom or temporary manifestation of the Godhead (see 1 John 4:1-3; 2 John 1:7). None hold such views now. Yet one will often hear statements made as to the sufferings; and especially the temptations of the Savior, which practically amount to an ignoring of his humanity. We may note, then, a few things concerning the "man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5). Miraculously conceived, Jesus was yet born as other babies are. As other children he increased in wisdom and stature (Luke 2:52). He hungered (Matthew 4:2), thirsted (John 4:7), was wearied (John 4:6), slept (Matthew 8:24) had flesh and bones (Luke 24:39); wept (John 11:35); shrank instinctively from suffering (Luke 12:50; Luke 22:42); died (John 19:30). He had the feelings of men: he loved (John 11:5), was angry (John 2:15), wondered (Luke 7:9), suffered agony (Luke 22:44); he needed help through prayer (Luke 22:41), and received heavenly strength (Luke 22:43). He endured the temptations of men. These trials are especially worthy of notice. We are told that he is "one that hath been in all points tempted like as we are" (Hebrews 4:15). This proves his true humanity, but it does more. It helps to make him a perfect and sympathetic Savior: "In that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted" (Hebrews 2:18). The one point of difference here is that of sinlessness. He was tempted as we, "yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15; John 8:46).

2. The Godhood of Christ.

"The divinity of Christ is the corner-stone of our faith. We do not, we cannot, put our trust in man--our faith is in God." Jesus had a truly human nature, yet was as truly divine. We have the two natures in one person. Some striking sets of passages, showing the blending, can be given. Jesus, we read, "advanced in wisdom" (Luke 2:52); but the same chapter previously represented him as "filled with wisdom" (Luke 2:40), and John said he was full of truth (John 1:14). He claimed only God as his Father (Luke 2:49), yet went to Nazareth and was subject to Joseph and Mary (Luke 2:51). John says, "He needed not that anyone should bear witness concerning man; for he himself knew what was in mans’ (John 2:25), yet "he marvelled" at the centurion’s faith (Matthew 8:10), and also at the people’s unbelief (Mark 6:6). 1. Jesus is repeatedly called the Son of God (Matthew 3:17, etc.). Now, because men are in the Bible called sons of God (Galatians 4:6) or children of God (1 John 3:1), some have suggested that there is no true divinity implied in the Sonship of Jesus. But Jesus is "the Son" (Matthew 16:16), the "only begotten Son" (John 3:16). See Hebrews 1:8, "Of the Son" he saith, "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever." Could this be said of one who was only a man? The Jews took Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God as blasphemy (John 19:7). They would have been right, if he had only been man; they were wrong, because his God-head made the claim true. It is most significant that Jesus never in any sense qualified the words "Son of God" so as to remove the implication of divinity. Again, it has to be noted how Jesus carefully guarded against the suggestion that he was a Son as the disciples were, see John 20:17, "I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and my God and your God." 2. We have other divine titles used of the Christ. He was foretold as "The Mighty God" (Isaiah 9:6). He is Immanuel, "God with us" (Matthew 1:23). "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ... The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:1; John 1:14). Thomas greeted him as "My Lord and my God"; and Jesus, so far from rejecting the title, said: "Because thou host seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed" (John 20:28-29). He is called "God" in Hebrews 1:8, and "true God" in 1 John 5:20. Of his great name, "Jehovah," the Lord said, "I am Jehovah, that is my name, and my glory will I not give to another" (Isaiah 42:8); again: "Thou alone whose name is Jehovah art the Most High over all the earth" (Psalms 83:18). Now this great name is applied to our Lord Jesus. In Isaiah 40:3 we read, "The voice of one that crieth, Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of Jehovah", in Matthew 3:1-3 that prophecy is quoted of John the Baptist’s preparing the way of Jesus. In Isaiah 6:1-13 we read of the wonderful vision of God - Adonai (v. 1) and "Jehovah of Hosts" (v. 5)--which the prophet had. Now the Apostle John definitely states that Isaiah saw "his glory and spake of him," and "his" and "him" refer-to Jesus (John 12:36-41).

3. We have the prerogatives of God ascribed to Jesus Christ.

(a) He is presented as Creator (John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16)

(b) God only is the proper object of worship, as Jesus himself declared, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve" (Matthew 4:10). Yet we find Jesus worshipped by men and angels (John 9:38; Acts 7:54-60; Php 2:9-11; Hebrews 1:6; Revelation 5:9-13).

(c) God alone can forgive sin. Jesus Christ forgave sin at will (Luke 5:18-25) and gave to others authority to promise pardon on his conditions (John 20:22-23; Mark 16:15-16).

(d) He will raise the dead and judge the world (Matthew 25:31-33; John 5:22-29; Romans 14:10; 2 Corinthians 5:10).

4. The passages which plainly assert the pre-existence of Christ should be noted. "The Word" who "became flesh" was "in the beginning" with God and was himself God (John 1:1-14). The Lord Jesus said, "Before Abraham was I am" (John 8:58). He had a glory with the Father before the world was (John 17:5). The Father loved him "before the foundation of the world" (John 17:24) 5. We have statements as to his equality and oneness with God the Father. "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30). The Savior was so conscious of this oneness that he declared "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9). Men are to honor the Son as they honor the Father (John 5:23). The foregoing series of texts are only explicable on a belief in the true deity of the Lord Jesus. No mere man could truly speak or be spoken of as above. We may accept the words of him who was God manifest in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16), in whom dwelt "all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9). It may be noticed that there are texts which imply a subordination of the Son to the Father. The Father "sent" the Son (John 3:16), and gave him power (Matthew 28:18). Once Jesus said, "The Father is greater than I" (John 14:28). The last verse has sometimes been misused so as, to neutralise the claim to equality with God in John 10:30, and to show that Jesus was but a man. But only think of the superfluity and absurdity involved in the supposition that a mere man deemed it necessary to tell folk that God in his heaven was greater than he! We reverently accept all that is revealed, though we cannot presume to understand the mystery of the Godhead.