The Man Christ Jesus

The Eternal Manhood of Jesus Christ

 5  For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,  - 1 Timothy 2:5 ESV

To understand what Paul is telling Timothy in the passage quoted above, we need to take a moment to consider his words in the greater context of Scripture. Notice how the apostle describes our Lord as “the man Christ Jesus.” Let’s consider this phrase under several headings.

The Man Christ Jesus in Prophecy Past

Let’s begin with the first hints we find in Scripture about the Son of God taking on flesh. Consider the words of God to Satan after he tempted Adam and Eve to sin.

 15  I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. - Genesis 3:15 ESV

God told the serpent that the day was coming when the offspring of the woman would bruise his head. There is only one person who could deal such a blow to Satan –our Lord Jesus Christ. He did this through His work on the cross. To be an offspring of the woman, however, Jesus would have to be born as a human being. This is what God promised in the opening chapters of the book of Genesis. God would send His Son to be born as a human offspring of Eve to crush the head of Satan and address the curse of sin. 

The prophet Isaiah describes this offspring of Eve when he wrote:

 2  For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3   He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4   Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  5   But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. - Isaiah 53:2-5 ESV

This human offspring of Eve was rejected by men and acquainted with sorrow and grief. Isaiah tells us that His physical body would be pierced for our sins and He would bring us peace with God.

It was the purpose of God, from eternity past, that His Son became a man for the purpose of addressing the problem of sin. Speaking to the crowd that had gathered in Jerusalem at Pentecost, the apostle Peter put it this way:

 23 This Jesus,  delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.  - Acts 2:23 ESV

God had a “definite plan” from eternity past to send His Son to this earth in human flesh to be a sacrificial lamb.

The Birth of the Man Christ Jesus

One of the basic requirements for being human is to be born a human. What hatches from the eagle's egg will never be an elephant. The offspring of the sheep will never be a donkey. 

In Matthew 1, we have the record of the angel of God speaking to Joseph about the miraculous conception of Mary. The angel points out that this child would be conceived in a human womb and born as a son. 

 22   All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:  23   “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). - Matthew 1:22-23 ESV

Had Jesus suddenly appeared in human form, we would have cause to wonder if He was truly human. We have records of angels appearing in human form in Scripture, but they are not human. For Jesus to be truly human, He needed to be conceived in a human womb, nourished and grow in that womb, dependent on His mother, and be delivered into this world like you and me.

Note also what Luke tells us about this baby Jesus:

 52  And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. - Luke 2:52 ESV

Like any other human child, Jesus had to learn to walk and talk, and interact with those around Him. He had to learn about the world in which He lived. He grew physically into maturity from a baby into a child and eventually a man. He also had to grow in His understanding of the Heavenly Father and His relationship and obligations to Him.

There were no shortcuts for Jesus. He came into this world as every human being does. He learned as we all had to learn. He was fully human in His birth.

The Life of the Man Christ Jesus

Like every human being, the Lord Jesus lived with physical limitations. The Pharisees of that day saw him eat with tax collectors and sinners. 

 11  And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” - Matthew 9:11 ESV

Like every human being, he restored His strength with physical food.

Matthew recounts a time when Jesus was so tired that he slept during a great storm in a boat on the sea:

 23   And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him.   24  And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep.   25  And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.”  - Matthew 8:23-25 ESV

Jesus, as any man, needed to sleep to restore His limited human strength.

Jesus felt human emotions. After the death of Lazarus, seeing the pain on the faces of those who grieved for their friend and brother, we read in John 11:35 that Jesus wept.

 35   Jesus wept. - John 11:35 ESV

According to Mark 3:5 Jesus also felt both anger and grief:

 5  And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. - Mark 3:5 ESV

The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is fully able to identify with our weaknesses and was tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin:

 14  Since then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.   15  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  - Hebrews 4:14-15 ESV

When they pierced Jesus' side, He bled like you and me:

 34  But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.   35   He who saw it has borne witness— his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth— that you also may believe.  - John 19:34-35 ESV

The Lord Jesus lived in a human body like ours. That grew and matured. It also became tired and needed rest. He ate physical food to refuel His energy, and when He was wounded, blood flowed from those wounds. He felt all the human emotions we feel and was tempted by all the same things that tempt us.

The Death of the Man Christ Jesus

One of the most powerful proofs of the humanity of Jesus Christ is His death. We watch this taking place as the soldiers beat Him, and forced Him to carry His own cross to the Place of the Skull:

 17  and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.  - John 19:17 ESV

Jesus did not get too far, however, and Matthew tells us that the soldiers were compelled to ask Simon of Cyrene to carry it the rest of the way:

 32    As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross.  - Matthew 27:32 ESV

The human body of Jesus Christ could only handle so much, and it no longer had the physical strength to carry the cross.

We watch Him hang on the cross, His human strength quickly fading until He finally cried out in agony, and His heart stopped. The soldiers came around to break His legs to speed up His death, but they saw that he had already died, so they thrust a spear into His internal organs, assuring beyond question that He was no longer alive.

 32  So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him.   33  But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.   34  But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.   35   He who saw it has borne witness— his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth— that you also may believe. - John 19:32-35 ESV

Note what took place when Joseph of Arimethea asked for Jesus’ body to bury Him.

43  Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.   44  Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead.   45  And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph.  - Mark 15:43-45 ESV

Before releasing Jesus’ body, Pilate confirmed with the centurion in charge that Jesus had died. Only when His death was confirmed beyond doubt did Pilate release it to Joseph.

There can be no doubt that the body that hung on that cross and died was very human. Jesus was not some manifestation of a human body but fully human. His body was broken, weakened and died as any body would under those conditions. 

The Resurrection of the Man Christ Jesus

We have seen that Jesus died as a man. We need to understand now how He rose. Consider a conversation that took place in Luke 24 after the resurrection of Jesus. He has just appeared to the disciples. Notice their response to the presence of Jesus among them that day:

 36  As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!”   37  But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit.   - Luke 24:36-37 ESV

The disciples thought they saw a spirit in the form of a man when Jesus appeared among them. Scripture speaks of angelic beings manifesting themselves in human form. This is what the disciples thought they saw. Notice, however, how Jesus corrects this misconception:

38  And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?   39  See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”   - Luke 24:38-39 ESV

It was important that Jesus show these disciples that He was not a spirit in the form of a human being but an actual human being standing before them that day. He invited them to touch Him to see that he had flesh and bones as they did. Jesus showed them His hands and feet:

 40  And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.   - Luke 24:40 ESV

What was it about His hands and feet that was so important? Was it not the hole from the nails? This showed them that it was not someone who looked like Jesus but the very man who died on the cross in flesh and bone.

Jesus took this a step further and asked the disciples for food. They gave Him some fish, and He ate it in front of them, demonstrating that he could eat human food and be refreshed and strengthened by it. 

 41  And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”   42  They gave him a piece of broiled fish,   43  and he took it and ate before them.  - Luke 24:36,41-43 ESV

A spirit would not eat human food or be strengthened by it. In this, Jesus demonstrated that He had a human body after His resurrection.

This brings us to an important question. Could Jesus not have died as a man and risen from the dead as God alone, leaving his human nature in the grave? The answer to that question is a definite “no.” It was vital that Jesus rise as a human being. What hope would we have if Jesus could not rise as a man from the grave? What confidence would we have if only His God-nature were victorious? We would be lost and without hope if Jesus did not conquer death in the flesh. That is why it was so important to Jesus that the disciples understand that He was not a spirit or a manifestation of a man but a true flesh and bone human being, as they were, but one who had just conquered sin and the grave. Because the man Christ Jesus rose from the grave, we have hope.

The Man Christ Jesus in Eternity

We have seen that Jesus rose from the dead as a man. The question we must address finally is this: Is Jesus still a man in heaven, or did he renounce his manhood when He completed His work on earth? Let’s see what the Scriptures teach about this.

First, in Acts 1, after commissioning His disciples to make disciples of all nations, He was lifted up in a cloud before their eyes into heaven and disappeared from their sight (Acts 1:9). We know that at this point, Jesus rose from the dead as a man with a body of flesh and bones. This is how He went to heaven, a man in flesh and bones.

As the disciple stood gazing up into heaven, two angels appeared to them in white robes. Listen to what they told these disciples:

 10  And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes,   11  and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” - Acts 1:6-11 ESV

According to these verses, Jesus will return in the same way as the disciples saw him go. He will return not only in the clouds but as a man.

If this is the interpretation of Acts 1:11, then it should follow that the apostles would give some evidence in their writings about the manhood of Jesus after His ascension to heaven. Let’s consider a few passages that demonstrate this quite clearly. 

Consider first the words of the apostle John in 1 John 3:2:

 2  Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears  we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.  - 1 John 3:2 ESV

What was John’s expectation? He expected that when the Lord Jesus appeared, we would physically see Him and be like Him. Jesus would have a form that was visible to him, and he would be made like Jesus. We will have a body like His. This body would be set free from sin and its curse. We will see Him as He rose from the dead and ascended to the Father. We will see Him as the man Christ Jesus, but also so much more than a man.

This same thought is repeated by the apostle Paul when he wrote to the Philippians:

 20  But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,   21  who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.  - Philippians 3:20-21 ESV

Paul tells the Philippians that Jesus would transform their lowly bodies to be like His glorious body. It was clear to Paul that Jesus had a body. Admittedly, this body was different from our current sin-cursed bodies affected by sickness, disease, and death. But there in His presence, the curse of sin will be lifted, and we will be given new bodies like His resurrected and glorious body. 

While it is quite clear that we will be like Jesus and have bodies like His, how do we know that Jesus still has the body of a man?  Consider the words of Paul to Timothy as quoted at the beginning of this reflection:

 5  For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,  - 1 Timothy 2:5 ESV

Consider two details in this verse. First, note that Paul speaks in the present tense: “There is one mediator between God and men.” The idea is that this mediator is still alive and functioning as the only mediator between the two parties. Notice second, how Paul described this mediator as the “man Christ Jesus.” 

As Paul wrote this letter to Timothy, he tells us that Jesus, the mediator, who had risen from the dead and ascended to the Father, was a man. Oh, it is clear that He was also fully God, but according to Paul, Jesus had never renounced being a man.

Let me conclude with one final verse. Writing to the Colossians, Paul describes the Lord Jesus in the following terms:

 9  For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,  - Colossians 2:9 ESV

What does this tell us? It tells us that Jesus is fully God and fully man. All of the fullness of God dwells in the Lord Jesus in human form. Just as Jesus never renounced His deity to become human, so he never renounced his humanness in His divinity. He will identify with us for all eternity. What took place on the very first Christmas day when Jesus was born on this earth as a man continues on throughout eternity. We will see Him as He is. He will transform our bodies into one like His. This one, however, that we will see in the flesh, is so much more than flesh and bone. The fullness of God dwells in Him. He is in every way God, and our knees will bow to Him as our Saviour and our Lord.