A Human Jesus

For centuries, a core tenet of mainstream Christianity has been the dual nature of Jesus Christ: fully God and fully man. This concept, however, presents a theological paradox. How can a being be simultaneously infinite and finite, immortal and mortal, all-knowing and limited in knowledge? The Bible itself contains descriptions that can be interpreted as conflicting. This apparent paradox necessitates a deeper investigation of the scriptures to understand what the prophets and apostles taught about the nature of the man, Jesus.

A Prophet Like Moses

Jesus himself acknowledged that he is human when he affirmed the writings of Moses:

So Jesus said to them... "For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?" — John 5:19,46-47 (ESV)

And Moses wrote:

“The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, according to all you desired of the LORD your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’

“And the LORD said to me: What they have spoken is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which he speaks in My name, I will require it of him.

— Deuteronomy 18:15-19 (NKJV)

This interpretation of the prophecy was also confirmed by Peter (Acts 3:22-26).

A Man Who Told the Truth

Jesus identified himself as a man:

Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God." — John 8:39-40 (ESV)

Both Peter and Paul preached to unbelievers and had the opportunity to teach that "Jesus is God", yet they taught that Jesus was only "a man appointed by God" and people still got saved.

Some would argue that Jesus was a human, but he was risen (or reincarnated) to be God after being baptised or crucified or ascended or exalted.

However, the same Paul who only wrote his letters after all these things happened to Jesus, continued to educate his churches that Jesus was a human:

For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. — Romans 5:15-17 (ESV)

and

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. — 1 Timothy 2:5-7 (ESV)

and

For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. — 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 (ESV)

Even the author of Hebrews taught that Jesus was made to be a human like us:

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. — Hebrews 2:14-17 (ESV)

John, a faithful witness of Jesus also declared:

This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ — John 1:30 (ESV)

None of the apostles suggests that Jesus was some kind of God-man hybrid being. Nothing can be "100% God and 100% human".

God is Not a Human

The Bible makes a clear distinction between God and man.

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. — Numbers 23:19 (ESV)

"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!" — 1 Kings 8:27 (ESV)

Some would argue, that Jesus was risen or exalted (or reincarnated) to be God after living a human life. This argument contradicts the eternal nature of God:

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. — Psalm 90:2 (ESV)

and

Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.

— Isaiah 40:28 (ESV)

and

... but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith... — Romans 16:26 (ESV)

There was and would be no temporary period where God was limited or not be God.

God does not have a human body as Jesus explained:

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

— John 4:21-24 (NKJV)

This Jesus said while he was a human walking on Earth.

Jesus Was Born a Human

No apostle claimed that Jesus was an angel or a divine being. Jesus had a human genealogy as seen in Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-38. If Jesus was some sort of hybrid human, then Matthew or Luke would have mentioned it.

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

...

So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way: When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

— Matthew 1:1,17-18 (ESV)

Mary was not Jesus' surrogate mother. Matthew recorded Jesus as part of Jewish genealogy and that he was birthed like any other human baby.

However, the word translated as "the birth" in Matthew 1:18 comes from the Greek word "genesis". The meaning of Genesis according to the Cambridge Dictionary is "the origin of something, when it is begun or starts to exist". According to Strong's Concordance, genesis means origin or birth. This is also the reason why the first book in the Bible is called Genesis.

This could potentially mean that Matthew believed that Jesus "originated" (started to exist) when Mary became pregnant, because the Greek has a different word for "birth" which is "genete". When Mary "was found to be with child", Jesus was not born yet. It makes more sense to say Jesus' life "originated" when Mary "was found with child".

Matthew stated by writing "in this way", that the following statement would explain in which way or how Jesus was born. Yet, Matthew does not mention any pre-existence of Jesus before "Mary was found to be with child".

Paul also supports this view:

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His son, born of woman... — Galatians 4:4 (ESV)

However, some would argue that this reasoning clashes with John 8:49-58 where Jesus says "before Abraham was, I am" which usually is interpreted to mean he "existed" before Abraham.

In the context of John 8, the Jews argued that Abraham was greater than Jesus:

The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say,
‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’
Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died?
And the prophets died!
Who do you make yourself out to be?”

— John 8:52-53 (ESV)

Jesus defended himself by saying that this was not his own idea; it was the Father that glorified him (John 8:54). In addition, Jesus also said that when God showed Abraham the future which included Jesus, Abraham was glad and approved it:

Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad. — John 8:56

When the Jews misunderstood Jesus on this point (John 8:57), Jesus argued that his calling was so important that it was determined by God even before Abraham existed. Jesus never said that "he saw Abraham". That was what the Jews implied by their misunderstanding. Jesus said "Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day."

Firstborn of Creation

Paul describes Jesus with a specific title:

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

...

He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

— Colossians 1:13-15,18

Usually, "born" means that someone came alive by being born as a baby. This implies there was a time that this someone did not exist yet. Combining that with "of all creation" means that he is one of the created beings. Otherwise, Paul would have said something like "He is God over all creation" or something similar.

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. — Romans 8:29 (ESV)

Paul chooses to give the Son the reputation of the "firstborn among many brothers", which implies he was like other humans.

We Will Have a Body Like Jesus

Paul wrote that in the future Jesus Christ will transform our bodies to be like his:

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 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 3:21 (ESV)

If Jesus was God, this would imply that believers would also be transformed into gods.

Jesus Had Real Flesh

Jesus was not an illusion from God. After his resurrection, he made a point to prove his physical reality.

And he (Jesus) said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 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.”

And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.

And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”

They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.

— Luke 24:38-43 (ESV)

If the disciples truly believed Jesus was God Almighty, then these proofs would not have been necessary. He would rather have addressed their weak faith.

Jesus could have said: "Do you not believe I am God?", but instead he went through the trouble to provide three proofs that he was the same human Jesus they knew and believed:

  1. He looked like a human.
  2. He felt like a human.
  3. He ate like a human.

This, Jesus had done to prove that he was really alive, because his disciples witnessed and believed that their human Christ had died.

Jesus Grew

And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. — Luke 2:52 (NIV)

The NIV translations choose the word "grew" to translate the Greek word "prokoptó" which means to advance, increase, make progress which implies that Jesus's wisdom, stature and favor was not 100% perfect since the childhood.

His Disciples Treated Him as Human

Despite being in Jesus' physical presence for a long time, witnessing all his miracles, and being trained by Jesus himself, his disciples still did not treat him as their God:

  • Judas Iscariot betrayed him (Matthew 26:14-16; Mark 14:10-11)
  • They all forsook him (Matthew 26:34-35; Mark 14:27-29)
  • Peter denied him (Luke 22:55-62; John 18:15-18)
  • Peter argued with him (John 13:8-17)
  • Peter doubted him (Matthew 14:25-33)
  • The disciples thought Jesus was not capable (Mark 6:35-37)
  • The disciples did not take Jesus seriously (Mark 14:32-42)
  • Thomas did not believe that Jesus was omnipresent (John 14:8-9)
  • The disciples misunderstood Jesus (Mark 8:21)
  • The disciples were surprised to see Jesus resurrected (Luke 24:13-32; John 20:25)

If Jesus told them that he was God, or they somehow figured it out themselves, these incidents would most likely not have happened.

Jesus Could Not Have Been God

The idea of Jesus being God presents several logical problems:

  • If Jesus was God Almighty who limited Himself to take on a human form, then there would have been no god to maintain the universe while Jesus was in his limited human form.
  • If Jesus was partially God and partially human, then he would not have been able to die. He would have had to fake his death which disqualifies his sacrifice.
  • If Jesus was God's avatar, then he would not have really suffered anything. God would not have given up anything which means nothing was sacrificed.
  • If Jesus was a divine being separate from God who reincarnated to become a human, then this would imply the existence of two competing gods which contradicts many scriptures.

A common response to these arguments is that the Godhead has three members, each fulfilling a different function. This raises further questions regarding the nature of the members of God.

Jesus Died

The testimony of Jesus himself and the apostles is clear: Christ died.

I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore. — Revelation 1:17-18 (ESV)

and

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you — unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received:

  1. that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
  2. that he was buried,
  3. that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and
  4. that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

— 1 Corinthians 15:1-8

But, God cannot die:

Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. — Romans 1:22-23 (ESV)

and

To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. — 1 Timothy 1:17 (ESV)

Conclusion

The biblical testimony, from the prophets to the apostles, consistently refers to Jesus as a man, a prophet, and the firstborn of creation. The scriptures draw clear distinctions between God (an immortal, unchanging Spirit) and the man Jesus, who was born, grew, suffered and died. The evidence presented highlights the scriptural position of Jesus's humanity and the inherent paradoxes that arise from the doctrine of a dual nature. An examination of the apostolic teachings and the attributes ascribed to God versus the limitations of Jesus suggests that the concept of Jesus as solely a human being is a consistent theological perspective within the biblical narrative.

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