The Humanity of Jesus
July 24, 2022
I like the God-Jesus. God-Jesus is comforting. “Ah, God took on flesh! God played dress-up so that the goodness of our material nature could be confirmed! Isn’t that sweet?” Of course I know that you can’t separate the humanity and divinity of Jesus, as if he were half-and-half or something. He’s all God and all human, but we tend to emphasize one over the other in a given situation. “This is Jesus’s humanity shining through,” as if his divinity is taking a coffee break. So yeah, I like the God-Jesus—a clear expression of God’s love.
I think the human-Jesus is God being just a bit rude, God proving a point I would rather not be proven.
Hebrews makes the point clearly—“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin,” (Heb. 4.15). Jesus shows us that our sin is not the fault of our nature or nurture. He had our same nature. He was in a fallen world that nurtured him. Nevertheless, he was without sin.
By doing this, God shows us that the way things are isn’t the way things should be or have to be. Just because people engage in gun violence doesn’t mean we can throw our hands in the air and say, “ah, well, people are going to be people!” Just because the power of Sin trains people to be bullies, racists, and tyrants, doesn’t mean we can just chalk it up as inevitable. No! It’s not! The human Jesus shows us that there is another way to be in the world, a way where people are led and empowered by the Holy Spirit into true righteousness.
There is a real distinction between what “is” and what “should be.” But we need to not give that distinction too much power. Jesus shows us that the distinction isn’t inevitable. We can’t just blame our sin on our “human nature,” as if that absolves me, personally, of responsibility. The problem isn’t in my nature. It’s not in my culture. The problem is me. I choose to be something other than what I should be. This brokenness in my life? Yeah, it’s my fault.
But Hebrews is actually couched as good news. Perhaps it’s hard for God to understand why we don’t just let the Holy Spirit guide us; Jesus certainly does. He felt the pressures of Sin all around him. It took every ounce of his strength to turn and submit to the Spirit. He sweats drops of blood over it, it’s so difficult! He knows it’s hard for us, and testifies to the difficulty to God on our behalf. Thank God for that! If God can understand our struggles, perhaps we can have grace for one another in our struggles.
I think there’s other good news here as well—Jesus shows us that those who follow the Spirit of God can actually, physically, tangibly, do God’s righteous will! We can actually be a part in the healing of creation! How exciting is that!
—John Coffey
