“There is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” 1 Timothy 2:5.
Yesterday, we studied verses from Scripture that answer the question, “Why do you believe that Jesus Christ is true God?” Today, we turn our attention to the question, “Why do you believe that Jesus Christ is a true man?”
In the Scripture verse quoted above, Jesus is clearly called “man.” We could quote many verses from Holy Scripture in which Jesus is called a “son,” and there are many verses in which He called Himself the “Son of Man.” He is also called the “son of David.” There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that Jesus is a true human being. However, He was without sin. When Mary was informed by the angel that she would “bring forth a Son,” she asked, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” Luke 1:34. “The angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God,’” Luke 1:35. Jesus was sinless, but not because Mary was sinless. Mary was a sinner like every other human being. She admitted that in the Magnificat – the song in which she magnified the Lord: “My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior,” Luke 1:47. If she had been sinless, as some falsely teach, she would not have needed a Savior!
Scripture also ascribes to Jesus a human body and soul. The resurrected Jesus said to His terrified disciples, who thought that “they had seen a spirit,” “Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have,” Luke 24:39. Jesus also has a soul. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He said, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death,” Matthew 26:38.
The Bible also ascribes to Jesus human feelings and actions. “He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow,” Mark 4:38. “He was hungry,” Matthew 4:2. Hanging on the cross, He said, “I thirst,” John 19:28. At the grave of Lazarus, “Jesus wept,” John 11:35. He suffered and died on Calvary’s cross. Anyone who doubts that Jesus is a true Man and also true God is flying in the face of an abundance of evidence.
For us to have a Savior, Jesus had to be both God and Man. It was necessary for Him to be a true man in order to fulfill the Commandments in our place. The Commandments are written for people. However, He had to be true God to keep the Commandments perfectly for us.
Jesus had to be a true man in order to suffer and die in our place. However, He had to be true God so that by His life and death He could pay the price to save us. He had to be true God so that He could conquer sin, death and the devil. If He had been only a man, His body would still be in a grave somewhere.
It was necessary for our salvation that He was and is both God and Man in one Person. As the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews summarizes it, “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage,” Hebrews 2:14-15.
We pray: Dear God, we thank You on bended knee for sending Your Son to take on a human body and soul, and that as the God-Man, He fulfilled the Commandments in our place, and suffered, died and rose again to conquer sin, death and the devil for us. He opened for us the gate of heaven, where we, who believe and trust in Him for full forgiveness, will be graciously received when we leave this world. In His name we pray. Amen.