The Person of Christ - Essay Example

?The person of Christ inserts inserts Table of Contents The person of Christ inserts Student inserts Institution name 1 Date 1 Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 a.Christ’s Deity 3 b.Christ’s Humanity 6 c.Unity and distinction of Christ’s two natures 10 Heresies on the person of Christ 10 Conclusion 11 Bibliography 12 Introduction The person of Christ is a topic that has never been short of controversy. There are four important statements that must be put into consideration in order to fully understand the person of Christ. The first is that Jesus if fully divine, the second is that he is fully human, thirdly is that Christ’s divinity and humanity are distinct and last but not least is that the human nature and the divine nature of Christ are amalgamated into one person1. a. Christ’s Deity There are many passages in the Bible that confirm that Jesus is divine. Here are a few examples:- In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth 2 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known3. Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”4 Even though scripture clearly states the deity of Christ, these scriptures are often challenged. For instance there are those that believe that Jesus never called himself God and any verse that suggests so was written by His disciples in order to deify the man that significantly impacted their lives. There are some who believe that Jesus was only a great teacher of morality which would at best place him at per with other religious leaders.5 This notwithstanding, Jesus’ own understanding of his deity can be seen in six primary ways. First is that he taught with divine authority 6 The difference with Jesus and the other religious teachers of his time like the Pharisees and Sadducees is that they had no authority when they presented their teaching. They derived their authority from earlier authorities.7 In fact, even Moses and all other prophets of the Old Testament sis not speak with their own authority but with the authority of the Lord. Jesus however, interprets the Old Testament thus: You have heard it said…but I say…8 it is this same authority that Jesus used to affirm himself as Lord and Judge who will reward the righteous and judge the wicked. The second view of Christ’s deity is his relationship with God the father. We see Jesus as a young boy seated in the temple discussing scripture with the teachers of the law. His parents went over looking for him and when they finally found him, his answer to their question on why he wandered from them was, Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?9(Luke 2:49) Jesus referred to God as His father in many other places in scripture and this assertion may be considered a radical assertion but it is also a good proof of his deity. In fact, such an assertion was not a very common thing in Jewish literature and it made him unique from other Jewish leaders both past and present. The third illustration is the phrase “son of man” which Jesus used over and over again to refer to himself. Even though the phrase might simply mean a son of a human being, Bible scholars believe he was using it in reference to the son of man described in Daniel 7 who was to be a ruler of the whole world. 10 There are many instances in Scripture in which Jesus affirmed himself as the messianic son of man. For instance, he stated that he had authority to forgive sin and he even did what was considered by experts of the law as work on the Sabbath by healing the paralytic man. Fourthly, Jesus taught many things that emphasised on his real identity. He taught about the kingdom of God in which he was a son. He taught on how he was around even before Abraham was. His emphasis on his identity can easily be seen in the question he asked his disciples in Matthew 16:15. He wanted to know what not just the multitudes thought he was but also what the disciples thought him to be. 11 The fifth proof of Christ’s deity is that He received worship. All through scripture both in the Old and new testaments, people often attempted to worship prophets after they performed a miracle. These prophets usually refused and pointed out that they were not God but merely vessels that God was using. A god example is Apostle Paul and Barnabas.12 However, Jesus never declined to be worshipped and he was worshipped by many in his time both Jew and Greek. The fact that a monotheistic Jew accepted worship from other monotheistic Jews is the best indictors that he considered himself divine. The last illustration is the fact that Jesus considered himself equal to God. It was as a result of his equating himself to God that the Jewish leaders of his time accused him of blasphemy. “…but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God…”13 The fact that Jesus is divine can help us understand God the father even better. For instance, mankind can now know God definitely and personally through Christ. Jesus himself stated that anyone that has known him has already known the father. The purpose and plan of God’s redemption can also be seen to have been fulfilled through Jesus Christ. The ultimate of it is that after his crucifixion and ascension, Christ is now a high priest for man in His father’s presence interceding for man. The earliest denial of Christ’s deity was taught by a small Jewish-Christian sect in the first century. The sect believed that the power of God came upon Jesus, who was a man and by virtue of Gods hand upon him, he was enabled to do the work of the messiah. However, they did not believe that Christ was in any way God. They therefore placed Christ on the same pedestal with any other prophet Like Ezekiel or even Samson who were merely men that were empowered by God to perform a redemptive purpose of God.1415 b. Christ’s Humanity The divine nature of Christ became unified to his carnal nature from the moment he was conceived and born by the Virgin Mary. Jesus had a human body, a human mind and he experienced human temptations. As scripture reveals, Jesus had a human birth and even had a human genealogy. As described by Luke and the other Gospels, Jesus was born naturally and grew just like any other normal human being would grow. He was even circumcised on the eighth day as required of all Jewish baby boys.16 There are many scriptures that reveal that Jesus had a human body. For instance, he gets tired like every man would. We see him lying down to sleep in the boat when they were crossing the lake. There are many instances where Jesus grew hungry and had to eat something. The ultimate illustration of his humanity is when he was hanged on the cross and died like every human would if he was to be nailed to a cross. In fact, there are some people that argue that Jesus died more out of exhaustion than out of losing blood from the nail wounds. The letters of John as well as the other Gospel accounts reveal a Jesus that not only did spiritual stuff but other mundane activities like fishing, washing of the disciples feet, travelling, going for weddings like he did at Cana of Galilee and even visiting with friends like he did when he visited the house of Mary and Martha the sisters to Lazarus. The fact Jesus still had a physical body even after the resurrection is a good illustration of his humanity. When he appeared to the disciples in the presence of doubting Thomas, he allowed Thomas to feel his side in order to prove that it was indeed Jesus that had risen from the dead. This proved that Jesus had a physical body. Jesus himself confirmed this when he told the disciples not to think of hi as a spirit or as a ghost since spirits and ghosts do not have flesh nor do they have blood.17 Even when he was ascending to heaven, he ascended in his physical body since the disciples could actually see him as he went up in the cloud. 18 The writer of Hebrews reports that Jesus learnt obedience by undergoing suffering.19 This implies that Jesus was purely physical and he even went through the mundane suffering and pains of a normal human. However, it does not imply that he began from a state of disobedience and moved towards obedience but rather, that through the suffering he went through, he grew in the capacity to obey his father. The same scripture of Hebrews also reveals that Jesus was tempted like any ordinary man. However, unlike most ordinary men, Jesus did not fall into the temptation but rather overcame the temptation. He maintained his sinless state until he died on the cross as a holy Lamb of God in order to take the sins of the world. 20 If Jesus was only divine and not man, he would not need to practice spiritually disciplines. However, he was in the practice of practising these disciplines. For instance he was frequently on the mountain of olives where he would spend most of his night in prayer. We see him attending worship many times at the synagogue and there are many times that he quoted from the scripture which proofs that he also memorised scripture. He was keen on observing solitude as he often refrained from the multitudes to rest and unwind. He also received the fully spirit during his baptism. These and many other tings that Jesus did were for the sake of spiritual growth. Interestingly, Jesus must have spent most of his first thirty years of life doing nothing but the ordinary things. Since Joseph was a carpenter, it can be assumed that he was doing the tasks of a carpenter in his earthly father’s workshop.21 His neighbours new him in the natural sense and that explains why they were suddenly amazed when the same Jesus suddenly began to perform miracles. In fact, it was this that must have contributed to the rejection of Jesus in his hometown. People were finding it had to accept a person they had seen purely as human coming as their long awaited messiah.22 There are many implications to the humanity of Christ. For starters, man has traditionally been viewed as full of weakness and prone to sin. However, Jesus was a hundred percent man, went through temptation but He did not sin. This proves that man can actually avoid sin as modelled by Christ. The life of Jesus reveals what kind of life we could have if we were not sinful. In effect, he manages to reveal that the biggest problem of man is not his humanity but the fact that he is “fallen.” The humanity of Christ is what qualified him to be a substation for mankind on the cross as per the redemptive plan of God. Jesus had to become human for him to qualify to be a high priest for mankind as explained by Hebrews. 23 The fact that he was a hundred percent human put him on a pedestal that qualified him as a perfect mediator between sinful man and the holy God of heaven. The humanity of Jesus Christ makes him a perfect role model for humans to emulate. He is a true example for human conduct and character. He set out a pattern that we can emulate in life. In fact, the apostle Paul admonishes us to “imitate Christ.” Apostle Peter also explains that Jesus become human and lived among us on earth experiencing what we experience on a day to day basis in order to become a model and an example for us.24 The apostle John is regarded as one of the most influential authors on the life of Jesus Christ. In his letter, He seems to eulogise the fact that he actually met, walked and experienced life with the physical Jesus. He opens his letter by asserting the fact that what he was about to write was an account of things that he had actually seen and handled during the public ministry of Jesus Christ the son of God. It is worth noting that the letter of John was written some fifty years after the death of Jesus and yet John is clearly full of wonder about the relationship that he shared with Jesus when he was walking earth some fifty years earlier. He emphatically documents: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ25 Jesus had a carnal mind. This is proved by the fact that many times, he was asked by his disciples about when the end time would come. To this he often replied that no one actually knows the time and the hour of the last day. He went further to explain that not even the angels in heaven could tell of the time and hour of the Lord’s second coming. The only one who knew the time and date was God the father. This assertion in way reveals that Jesus, in his human nature, was not all knowing. He was therefore telling the disciples that he was in fact as human as could be. c. Unity and distinction of Christ’s two natures The mystery of the incarnation is that Jesus was divine and human at the same time and that the two natures were distinct. These two natures are unified in one person, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. There are scriptures that show Jesus both as human and divine at the same time. A good illustration is Johns account; And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth26 This, and may other scriptures illustrate that God the son stepped into time and took a human nature and became like the man he had actually created. Heresies on the person of Christ There are some heresies that seek to dispute the person of Christ. First of all, the heresy of Ebionism seeks to deny that Christ was in any way divine. This heresy teaches that Christ was not more than a moral teacher much like the other preachers before him and during his time. The second heresy is referred to as arianism. This heresy seeks to deny the deity of Christ’s fullness. It seems to have a problem with the fact that Christ came in the fullness of time born of a virgin.27 Docetism is another heresy that seeks to challenge the person of Christ. This heresy usually challenges the fact that Christ was in any way human, it teaches that Christ was a son of God and God and did not in any way become man. This heresy therefore negates the truth about incarnation and ultimately believes that the concept of substitution as part of the redemptive plan for mankind by God was false28. Apollinarianism denies the concept of the fullness of humanity of Christ. It does not have a problem with the concept to some degree but on the other hand still challenges the concept. The other heresy that challenges the person of Christ is the heresy of Nestorianism. This heresy teaches that it would not be possible to have more than two natures in one person. It believes that it would not be possible to have Jesus as divine and human in the same body. Eutychainism on the other hand does not believe that the two natures can be looked at as distinct entities. In fact, the heresy taught on how the two natures were so distinct to the point that Christ was thought to be someone totally different from the one that was born of a virgin In Jerusalem. 29 In 451 AD church leaders assembled at Chalcedon in order to come up with a creed that would not only affirm the fullness of Christ’s deity but also the fullness of his humanity. As a result of the creation of the creed these six fallacies and heresies were rejected by the church leaders. 3031 Conclusion There are many explanations why Jesus had to be incarnated and become man while at the same time remain God. However, the most important was that God had to come up in the likeness of man in order to qualify as a mediator. As Hebrews explains, we did not need a high priest that was just divine in nature but rather, one that had walked where we walk and one that felt what we felt. This is one of the reasons why when Jesus became man, he qualified to be mans intercessor in God’s presence. The relationship between the deity and humanity of Christ is not easy to comprehend. It seems hard to have someone that is a hundred percent God and a hundred percent man all at the same time. Nonetheless, Jesus came in the form of man and God. He needed to be God in order to accomplish his earthly assignment but he also needed a human body in order to operate on earth legally. Earth is a realm of flesh and blood and the spiritual part of him would not be readily accepted. In fact, the time when he walked on water and the disciples thought it was a spirit, they would have readily run away from him. The unity of the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ is dotted throughout the Scriptures. The only possible to deny that Jesus was both divine and human at the same time would be to first deny the Bible. That would explain why even though there are many denominations among Christians that have their own different structures and belief systems, at least most of them agree on the fact that Jesus, who was born of the virgin Mary in the flesh, was also the son of God and a third person of the holy trinity. Bibliography 1. Millard Erickson. 2006. Introducing Christian Doctrine. New York: Sage 2. Charles T. Waldrop. 1985. Karl Barth's Christology. London: Marvey Books 3. Burtin Charles. The person of Christ. Bible.org. Http://bible.org/seriespage/person-christ (accessed 13th April 2012) 4. Rausch, Thomas P. 2003. Who is Jesus? : an introduction to Christology, Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press 5. Ehrman, Bart D. 1993. The Orthodox corruption of scripture: the effect of early Christological controversies on the text of the New Testament, New York: Oxford University Press 6. John G. Gibbs. 1971 Creation and redemption: a study in Pauline theology. New York: Brill Publishers 7. McGrath, Alister E. 2007.Christian theology : an introduction, Malden, Mass.: Blackwell 8. Watson E. Mills 2003. Mercer Commentary on the New Testament. New York: Oxford University Press 9. Wolfhart Pannenberg1968. Jesus God and Man. London: cengage publishing 10. Gerald O'Collins 2009. Christology: A Biblical, Historical, and Systematic Study of Jesus London: Destiny Image 11. Richard Price. 2006 The acts of the Council of Chalcedon by Council of Chalcedon, Malden Mass: Blackwell 12. Berard L. Marthaler. 2007.The creed: the apostolic faith in contemporary theology 13. Paul Haffner. 2004. The mystery of Mary Lodon: Gracewing Press 14. BBC. Who killed Jesus? http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/history/whokilledjesus_1.shtml (accessed 13th April 2012) 15. James P. Campbell 2005. Mary and the Saints. New York, Wrigley Read More