Jesus Is Human

For centuries, a core tenet of mainstream Christianity has been that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. Trinitarians therefore affirm Jesus’s full humanity. The question is not whether Scripture presents him as human, but whether it presents the Messiah as human only or as one person with both human and divine natures.

Messianic Expectation

The Hebrew term Messiah, rendered in Greek as Christ, denotes the promised Israelite descendant and representative whom God appoints, empowers, raises, and exalts.

Israelite Prophet

Moses promised Israel that God would raise a prophet from among their own people:

“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)

Peter applies that promise to Jesus:

“Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’” — Acts 3:22 (ESV)

Jesus also describes himself without ambiguity:

“But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God.” — John 8:40 (ESV)

Growth and learning

However, Paul testified after Jesus’s exaltation:

“He has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by “a man” (ἀνδρί) whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” — Acts 17:31 (ESV)

Another argument is that Jesus’s identity was already understood by his contemporaries, so an explicit identification of Jesus as God would not have been necessary.

However, Peter preached to an audience of unbelievers who did not know Jesus. If that identity were already assumed, one might expect clarification; instead, Peter proclaimed:

“Jesus of Nazareth, a man (ἄνδρα) attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst.” — Acts 2:22 (ESV)

Matthew places Jesus within Israel’s family line:

“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” — Matthew 1:1 (ESV)

Rather than explaining incarnation, Paul teaches that Jesus was born:

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

Humanity Evidence

Jesus Was Born Human

In the passages examined here, no apostle explicitly claims that Jesus was an angel or a divine being. Jesus has a human genealogy in Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-38. These genealogies present him within human descent without explaining a hybrid human nature.

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’s surrogate mother. Matthew records Jesus within a Jewish genealogy and describes his birth as that of a human child.

However, the word translated as "the birth" in Matthew 1:18 comes from the Greek word "genesis". The Cambridge Dictionary defines genesis as "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 why the first book in the Bible is called Genesis.

This article considers whether this may mean that Matthew understood Jesus to have "originated" when Mary became pregnant, because Greek has a different word for "birth": "genete". When Mary "was found to be with child", Jesus had not yet been born. On this interpretation, it is more natural to say that Jesus’s life "originated" when Mary "was found with child".

By writing "in this way", Matthew indicates that the following statement explains how Jesus was born. Yet Matthew does not mention Jesus’s pre-existence 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)

Natural Human Life

Luke records natural human development:

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

The NIV uses "grew" to translate the Greek word "prokoptó", which means to advance, increase, or make progress. This wording presents Jesus’s wisdom, stature, and favour as developing during childhood.

John, a 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)

Despite being in Jesus’s physical presence, witnessing his miracles, and being trained by him, the disciples often misunderstood or failed him. These actions do not by themselves determine whether they regarded him as divine:

  • 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)
  • The disciples misunderstood Jesus (Mark 8:21)
  • The disciples were surprised to see Jesus resurrected (Luke 24:13-32; John 20:25)

Comparison With Adam

Paul’s Adam-and-Christ comparison depends on Jesus’s human representative role:

“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.” — Romans 5:15 (ESV)

“As one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.” — Romans 5:18 (ESV)

“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)

“The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. … The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.” — 1 Corinthians 15:45,47 (ESV)

These passages establish the article’s humanity evidence. The next question is how that human Messiah is related to God, since humanity by itself does not decide whether he also has a divine nature.

Pre-existence Claims

However, many would disagree that Jesus existed only from his birth.

Abraham Saw Jesus

A common argument appeals to Jesus’s statement in John 8:49-51, "before Abraham was, I am". His opponents understood him to claim existence before Abraham’s birth. This article questions whether that interpretation follows, given Jesus’s reference to the Father’s glorification and Abraham’s vision of the future (John 8:52-54):

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

Jesus never said that "he saw Abraham". The phrase, "see my day", is a future event from Abraham's perspective.

In the same chapter, Jesus told his opponents that he was "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)

If Jesus’s statement were understood as a claim to divinity, the article argues that its relation to his description of himself as a man would require explanation within a two-nature account.

Firstborn of Creation

Some argue that Paul taught that Jesus existed before creation:

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 (ESV)

"Firstborn" does not mean chronologically "first created".

  • "first" means most important.
  • "born" limits the scope to those who were born in a particular family.

In this article’s interpretation of Colossians, it would mean that he would inherit more from the Father than any other created being. On that interpretation, Jesus would therefore be a creature.

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)

In this context, Paul claims that Jesus is the most important brother among many brothers. This contributes to the article’s presentation of Jesus as human like his brothers.

Virgin Conception

Some argue that the virgin conception proves that Jesus was not an ordinary human child. The virgin conception is extraordinary and affirms God’s initiative in Jesus’s origin. It does not itself say that Jesus is God:

“For that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” — Matthew 1:20-21 (ESV)

A miraculous conception can mark God’s appointed Messiah without changing the repeated presentation of him as human.

Jesus and God

Evidence: How Jesus Relates to God

Jesus’s prayer to God at Gethsemane expresses submission rather than independent authority:

“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” — Matthew 26:39 (ESV)

Jesus identifies the Father, not himself, as the only true God:

“And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” — John 17:3 (ESV)

Evidence: Risen Jesus Calls God His God

However, after his resurrection, Jesus still said “my God” (τὸν θεόν μου):

“I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” — John 20:17 (ESV)

These sender, prayer, and worship relations provide a second line of evidence. They are considered alongside, rather than replaced by, the descriptions of Jesus’s human life and death below.

Baptism of Jesus

Jesus received John’s baptism. John’s ministry is called a baptism of repentance. The act should not be used as a simple proof that Jesus personally repented. It may be read as his obedience and solidarity within Israel’s human calling.

“John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him.” — Acts 19:4 (ESV)

“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. … Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’” — Matthew 3:13,15 (ESV)

How the Apostles Identify Jesus

Apostolic language maintains the same distinction:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” — Ephesians 1:3 (ESV)

“The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus.” — Acts 3:13 (ESV)

Revelation distinguishes the eternal God from Jesus, the faithful witness, and calls believers priests to Jesus’s God:

“Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come … and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. … He made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father.” — Revelation 1:4-6 (ESV)

The risen speaker continues to call God his God:

“The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God (τοῦ θεοῦ μου). … I will write on him the name of my God.” — Revelation 3:12 (ESV)

Mediator

Paul’s concise confession places God and Christ in a mediated relationship. The Greek noun is ἄνθρωπος, meaning “human being” or “man”:

“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” — 1 Timothy 2:5 (ESV)

This does not diminish Jesus’s authority. The cited passages describe God working through the Messiah and identify him as a man. In the article’s cumulative reading, this genuine humanity, together with the sender-and-agent pattern, supports a non-Trinitarian account of his identity.

Jesus’s Resurrection Body

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)

This bodily likeness does not by itself determine whether Jesus has a divine nature. It establishes that Paul presents Jesus’s glorious resurrection body as the pattern for believers’ transformed bodies.

Evidence: Jesus Died

The passages personally predicate death of Jesus while presenting him as a man, which is important to the article’s argument:

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)

The author of Hebrews links sharing "flesh and blood" with death in fulfilling the sacrificial requirements:

“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.” — Hebrews 2:14 (ESV)

The author of Hebrews also states that God made Jesus like his brothers, which supports the article’s presentation of his humanity.

Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect (κατὰ πάντα).” — Hebrews 2:17 (ESV)

God is spirit (John 4:24); however, after his resurrection, Jesus demonstrated that he remained human:

“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 24:39 (ESV)

This demonstration does not by itself establish a divine incarnation.

The apostle Paul presents Christ’s death as essential for our sins:

“Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day.” — 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (ESV)

God is described as immortal, whereas the New Testament personally says that Christ died.

Trinitarian theology distinguishes Jesus’s divine nature, which does not die, from his human nature, in which he died. However, the texts quoted here explicitly predicate death of Christ. It do not set out that division between two named natures and an explanation of Jesus' dual nature is nowhere to be found in the Bible.

Evidence: Christ’s Death and God’s Immortality

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 (ESV)

Scripture describes God as immortal:

“The everlasting God, the LORD … does not faint or grow weary.” — Isaiah 40:28 (ESV)

and

“You are the same, and your years have no end.” — Psalm 102:27 (ESV)

and

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)

Evidence: Resurrection and Exaltation

Peter makes God’s action towards Jesus explicit:

“This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, …” — Acts 2:32-33 (ESV)

“Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” — Acts 2:36 (ESV)

Paul likewise grounds Jesus’s universal honour in God’s gift:

“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. … and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” — Philippians 2:9-11 (ESV)

Can Jesus Be Both God and Human?

Biblical Distinctions Between God and Humanity

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 may understand Jesus’s resurrection or exaltation as marking his appointment to a divine status after his human life. This understanding 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 in which God was limited or ceased to be God.

Jesus describes God as spirit:

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)

Jesus said this while living a human life on earth.

Two-Nature Interpretation

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 only partially die too, meaning his death would have been fake which implies his sacrifice too would be fake.
  • 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.

The standard two-nature claim attempt to resolve this paradox. It holds that the one person, the Son, is fully divine and fully human. It qualifies apparently opposite predicates as belonging according to his divine or human nature.

Scripture personally predicates birth, development, learning, limited knowledge, obedience, temptation, death, resurrection, and the fact that Jesus has a God. It never names separate divine-Jesus and human-Jesus subjects or assigns these predicates to two natures.

A nature is not a separate person: if one personal subject bears both predicate sets, the same Son is:

  • knowing and not knowing
  • immortal and dying
  • untemptable and tempted
  • independent and dependent

The “divine nature” and “human nature” are incompatibile. If each nature requires a distinct mind, will, knowledge, and experience to bear the opposites, the theory creates two centres of cognition and action and undermines its one-person claim.

The cumulative biblical categories and personal predication instead support divine predicates belonging to God and human predicates belonging to Jesus, God’s human Messiah, whom God sends and empowers, raises and exalts, and presents through apostolic identification and human mediation, in keeping with the biblical distinction between God and humanity.

Conclusion

Jesus fulfils Israel’s expectation as the promised Israelite prophet and human Messiah. His human birth and natural development present a genuinely human life.

The Adam comparison and representative role, apostolic identification of Jesus, relation to God, and human mediation together portray God’s appointed human representative.

His genuine death, bodily resurrection, exaltation, and resurrection-body pattern complete this cumulative positive account of Jesus’s humanity.