By Henry Knapp
There have been times in my life where a close family member has acted so totally out of character that, in utter bewilderment, I have cried out, “Who are you?” In the midst of my confusion, my question becomes: “Where did you come from? And, where is that normal person I took you for?” But occasionally, only once in a great while, do I ask, not “Who are you?”, but “WHAT are you?” The silliness and indescribable antics on display causes me to question, not just my ability to recognize my family member, but my ability to recognize a fellow human being!
Of course, no amount of silliness or out-of-character actions leads me to really question someone’s humanity. After all, I know what a human being is… Don’t I?
One of the earliest questions the Church had to figure out in the first centuries after Christ’s death, was the question of “the Person of Jesus.” Now, don’t be fooled here: Normally, when we ask what kind of person someone is, we are asking about their personality—and in Jesus’ case, we would talk about His gentleness, lovingness, patience, kindness, etc. This would well describe His character or His personality. But, what the Church was dealing with was not Jesus’ character, but His essence. The question was not “what is He like?”, but, “what manner of being is He?” “Who” tells us about Him, but, “what” asks what kind of thing is He?
WHAT is Jesus? On one level, this is not that hard of a question. According to the testimony of those who knew Him, Jesus was a typical human being—He ate, slept, walked, talked, thought, prayed, felt, loved. In other words, He displayed all the traits that one would associate with a human. Jesus was human; He has a human nature.
But, immediately upon saying that, we know that Jesus was something other…for He also did things that humans simply cannot do—He controlled the weather, raised the dead, forgave sin, healed the sick, freed those trapped in bondage, spoke with divine authority. In other words, He displayed all the traits that one would associate with a divine being, with God Himself. He has a divine nature.
And so, the Church is left in a pickle. To ignore the “humanness” of Jesus is to write off much of the scriptural witness to Him. To deny His “divine-ness” is to reject the testimony of Scripture as well. So what is He? Human or divine? By the way, the significance of this question should not be misplaced—in our modern mind, the difference between a human and the divine is a pretty small one, but that is just crazy! The difference between a creature and the Creator is massive! So, the question of if Jesus is one or the other is no small question.
One solution is to merge the two natures together and say that Jesus was some mix of human and divine, say, 50% of the one, 50% the other. Or, maybe He is mostly one, and a little the other? Or, He was human for a while, then divine at other times? Many different solutions were put forward, but none seemed to agree with the biblical witness that Jesus is 100% human and 100% divine, both at the same time. Thus, the now-standard profession: Jesus is fully human and fully divine in one Person, and will be always.
How important is this proclamation? Does this make a difference? Do the New Testament writers care what we think about the Person of Jesus? Affirmative answers, and strong ones at that, are given by the Apostle John in his second epistle. I invite you to read 2 John and come prepared to worship the God-Man, Jesus Christ, this Sunday.
- In verse 3, Jesus is specifically designated as “the Father’s Son.” Now, this is true enough, but, after reading the entire epistle, can you speculate on why this is mentioned so early on?
- Why would someone who denies Jesus came in the flesh (verse 7) be identified as a “deceiver”?
- Verse 8: what might we lose? What have we worked for? What reward is out there?
- What does it mean to “abide” in something? How can we “abide” in the teaching of Christ? How does “abiding” enable you to “have the Father and the Son” (verse 9)?
- Doesn’t verse 10 sound a little harsh? How can we spread the Gospel if we act this way? How does verse 11 help clarify?