Christology Case

Ken Lamb

Theology

Christology

The Bible clearly shows the humanity of Jesus from his birth through his death. The Bible also shows Jesus had the same human needs and feelings all humanity share. He had a body of flesh and blood. Mary is pregnant in Luke 1 and giving birth to the child Jesus in Luke 2. Also in Luke 2, the Bible says, "And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man." (Luke 2:52) This verse shows the growth and development of Jesus as a child. In the verses of John 11:35 and Luke 19:41, we see Jesus in his humanity as he wept. Matthew 4:2 says Jesus was hungry, and in John 4, Jesus was both thirsty and wearied from his journey into Samaria. After dying upon the cross, the Bible states Jesus had a spear thrust into his side and from his body came blood and water.

Not only does the Bible give clear evidence of Jesus' humanity, but it also gives evidence of his deity. We see Jesus referred to as "our great God and Savior Jesus Christ," in Titus 2:13. Hebrews 1:8 verifies Jesus as the one prophesized in the psalms as the Son whom God has anointed to rule and reign. Furthermore, Thomas seeing the resurrected Christ would also exclaim, "My Lord and my God," (John 20:28) indicating his understanding of Jesus to be God incarnate. Moreover, it is in John's Gospel which we see Jesus as God, the creator and sustainer of the universe. John opens with, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men." (John 1:1-4)

The Council of Chalcedon understood the Christian belief of the Hypostatic Union of Jesus. This understanding affirmed Jesus was truly man and truly God. Jesus' two natures, human and divine, are without mixture, confusion, separation, or division. The Biblical evidence of this union is found in 1 Tim. 3:16 "Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory."

To see Jesus as both truly God and truly Man, we look to His roles as mediator between God and man, making atonement for sin, and becoming a sympathetic high priest. The Bible states, "For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross." (Col.1:19-20) Also, "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus." (1 Tim. 2:5) The writer of Hebrews claims, "Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful