The Humanity of Christ
The doctrine of the virgin conception of Jesus played a significant role in the Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy because a virgin conception is clearly a supernatural occurrence. But the virgin conception also points to another important theological truth: Jesus is fully human.
Why does Christ need to be fully man? Scripture teaches that Christ needed to be fully human in order to fulfill the offices of prophet, priest, and king.
The Perfect Prophet
A prophet is a man who mediates a message from God to other men. Deuteronomy 18:15, 16 reveals that Israel pleaded with God for an intermediary to bring His message to them. They feared death if God continued to communicate directly to them. Moses was the great prophet that God spoke through. When Aaron and Miriam tried to usurp Moses’ position by claiming that God had spoken through them as well, God revealed that Moses stood in a special relationship to Himself: “With him will I speak mouth to mouth . . . and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold” (Num. 12:8).
Before he dies Moses reveals that God would continue to honor the people’s request for a prophet to mediate between them and God: “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken” (Deut. 18:15). The Jews were still expecting this prophet in the days of Jesus. They asked John the Baptist, “Art thou that prophet?” (John 1:21).
John was not, but Jesus was the prophet like unto Moses. Indeed, Jesus was greater than Moses. Moses gave the law (which was glorious, 2 Cor. 3:7), but Jesus could reveal grace and truth (John 1:14–18) beyond the fringes of glory that Moses saw (Exod. 34:6, 7). Though Moses spoke mouth-to-mouth with and saw the Lord’s similitude, he had not seen God. But the Son had seen God, for He dwelt in the Father’s bosom and could declare Him (John 1:18). He was the Word who was God, but also the Word “made flesh” (John 1:1, 14).
The people recognized that Jesus was a prophet. They saw His miracles and “glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us” (Luke 7:16; cf. John 9:17). When a Pharisee doubted that Jesus was a prophet, Jesus vindicated Himself by responding to the man’s thoughts (Luke 7:39–47). The Pharisees sought to discredit Jesus as a prophet (John 7:52). When the soldiers mocked Jesus by blindfolding Him and taunting Him to prophesy who hit Him (Mark 14:65), they were challenging His claim to be a prophet.
After Jesus’ death and resurrection Peter proclaimed that Jesus fulfilled the promise of Deuteronomy 18. The Lord had raised up a prophet like Moses, and therefore the people should turn from their iniquities and take heed to all that Jesus said (Acts 3:19–26).
The Perfect Priest
The Old Testament reveals that sacrifice is necessary for sinful people to approach God. In the chapter immediately following the record of the Fall, Scripture tells about the sacrifices that Cain and Abel offered in worship. The location of Leviticus in the Pentateuch also reveals the necessity of priests and sacrifices. Exodus closes with the erection of the tabernacle, the symbol of God’s presence. Since man was driven from the presence of God because of his sin (Gen. 3:23, 24), Leviticus answers the question of how God can once again take up residence in the midst of sinners (Lev. 26:11–13).1 And yet as Israel’s history progressed and the sin of the people was shown to be written with an iron pen on their hearts, God said that He would rather have the people’s loyal love and real knowledge of Him than their sacrifices and burnt offerings (Hos. 6:6). Indeed, God said He did not require these people to come trampling through the courts of the temple. He did not delight in the blood of their bulls and goats; their incense was an abomination to Him. They had to be clean if they were going to come before Him (Isa. 1:11–17). Since purifying the unclean was the job of the sacrificial system, it was unclear how God would make their scarlet sins as white as snow and wool (Isa. 1:18). But as the book progresses Isaiah reveals that God would blot out their transgressions “for [His] own sake” by making His Servant a guilt offering for them (Isa. 53:10). Philip declared to the Ethiopian eunuch that Jesus fulfilled this prophecy on the cross (Acts 8:32–35). The shedding of Jesus’s blood was the propitiation, or satisfaction of God’s wrath, for sin (Rom. 3:25). In order to fulfill this role Jesus had to be a man. As the eternal God, He could not die. An animal was not a fitting or sufficient ultimate sacrifice for human sin. Jesus had to come “in the likeness of sinful flesh” so that God could condemn “sin in the flesh” (Rom. 8:3). Paul says, “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead” (1 Cor. 15:21).
The Book of Hebrews reveals that the significance of Jesus’ humanity for His priestly ministry lies in the present as well as in the past. The author points out that Jesus took on a human nature, not an angelic one, because it was fitting for Him to be “made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest.” This was true not only so that He could “make reconciliation for the sins of the people,” but also so He could be tempted and so be able to strengthen those who are tempted (Heb. 2:16–18). Jesus’ sacrifice was completed once and with finality (Heb. 7:27), but His priestly ministry continues. He continues to make intercession for those “that come unto God by him” (Heb. 7:25). Because of Jesus’ priestly intercession, believers can come boldly to the throne of grace for mercy and help. They can be assured that Jesus is a sympathetic high priest. Jesus was sinless and thus able to be a substitutionary sacrifice in our place. But He was also “in all points tempted like as we are,” and thus able to empathize with our infirmities in the face of temptation (Heb. 4:14–16).
The Perfect King
John prepared the way for Jesus by announcing, “the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:15). When Jesus traveled through Israel preaching, He preached “the kingdom of God” (Luke 4:43; 8:1). When Peter preached at Pentecost, he proclaimed that Jesus had been enthroned at the Father’s right hand (Acts 2:30–36). When the gospel went forth unfettered from Paul’s Roman prison, it was the gospel of the kingdom that he preached (Acts 28:31).
But what did it mean to say the kingdom of God drew near in the ministry of Jesus? God has always been sovereign over all things (Ps. 29:10; Jer. 10:10; Lam. 5:19). The answer is that the ruler of God’s kingdom on earth must be a man.2 Isaiah says that the promised king who will bear the government on his shoulder will rule “upon the throne of David” (Isa. 9:7). This is why Matthew opens his Gospel with the words, “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David” (Matt. 1:1). Jesus had to be a son of David to be the king promised in the Old Testament.
But the promise goes much deeper than David. Matthew also says that Jesus is “the son of Abraham.” God’s promises to David were an elaboration of promises He made to Abraham. God had told Abraham, “kings shall come out of thee” (Gen. 17:6). In addition, the promises to Abraham of a nation of offspring, a great name, land, and the opportunity to be a blessing to others are kingly promises.3 In the context of Genesis these kingly promises are made to Abraham as part of a covenant designed to restore what the Fall had damaged. Blessing, seed, and kingship are first found in God’s first promises to mankind in Genesis 1:26–28. God gave man dominion “over all the earth.” This dominion, damaged by the Fall, will be restored when the man Christ Jesus rules over all the earth (Heb. 2:6–9).
As our Prophet, Priest, and King, it is vital that Jesus be both God and Man.
Dr. Brian Collins serves on the Bible Integration Team at BJU Press. He and his wife, Joy, live in Greer, South Carolina.
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- Robert D. Bell, The Theological Messages of the Old Testament Books (Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 2010), 59–60. [↩]
- Isaiah also reveals that the promised king must be God. Isaiah spoke of Yahweh ruling as king from the Davidic city of Zion (2:3; cf. 52:7). The rule of Yahweh in Zion may at first glance appear to be something different than the rule of the promised Davidic king, but Isaiah connects the two. A person called “Mighty God” will sit on the throne of David (9:6, 7). This Davidic king will not only rule the world in righteousness (11:3–5; 16:3–5), but He will also restore the earth to Edenic conditions (11:6–9). How could a descendant of David—a man—be Yahweh ruling in Zion? Isaiah provides the answer to that question also. Isaiah told a king panicked at the threat to his life (which was also a threat to the Davidic line, 7:6) that a virgin would give birth to a son who would be named “God with us.” [↩]
- Gordon J. Wenham, “Genesis 1–15,” Word Biblical Commentary, ed. David A. Hubbard (Nashville: Nelson, 1987), 275. [↩]