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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadR.A. Torrey Collection: Torrey, R.A. - What Bible Teaches (About Jesus Christ): 03 The Human Nature of Jesus Christ
TOPIC: Torrey, R.A. - What Bible Teaches (About Jesus Christ) (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 03 The Human Nature of Jesus Christ
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Ch 03 The Human Nature of Jesus Christ
I. HUMAN NAMES OF JESUS.
1Ti_2:5 — "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus."
First Proposition: Christ Jesus is called man even after His ascension.
Luk_19:10 — "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."
Second Proposition: Jesus Christ is called the Son of man (seventy- seven times).
Stephen spoke of Him as the Son of man even when he saw Him in the glory standing at the right hand of God ( Act_7:55).
II. HUMAN PHYSICAL NATURE.
Joh_1:14 "And the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth."
Heb_2:14 "Forasmuch, then, as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil."
First Proposition:
The Eternal Word was made flesh and partook of flesh and blood. Jesus Christ had a true human body.
Note. The denial of the reality of Christ's body is the mark of the spirit of anti-Christ.
1Jn_4:2-3 — "Hereby know ye the spirit of God: every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of anti-Christ, whereof ye have heard that it should come and even now already is it in the world."
Note. The indwelling divine glory sometimes shone through and transfigured the veil of flesh ( Mat_17:2).
Luk_24:39 — "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have."
Joh_20:27 — "Then sayeth he to Thomas, reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing."
Second Proposition: Jesus Christ had a true human body after his resurrection.
Act_7:55-56 — "But he, being full of the holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God."
Rev_5:6 — -"And I beheld, and lo! in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth."
Mat_26:64-"Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." Third Proposition: Jesus Christ still has a human body in heaven. He shall come again on the clouds of heaven as "the Son of man.'
Note. Our bodies at His coming shall be transformed into the likeness of His own ( Php_3:21).
III. HUMAN PARENTAGE.
Luk_2:7 — "And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn."
Act_2:30 — "Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had
sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne."
Act_13:23 — "Of this man's seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a saviour, Jesus."
Rom_1:3 — "Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh."
Gal_4:4 "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law."
Heb_7:14 "For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood." Proposition: Jesus Christ had human parentage and human ancestry. He was Mary's son and David's seed.
Mary was as truly the mother of Jesus Christ as God was His Father.
IV. HUMAN LIMITATIONS.
PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS
Joh_4:6 — "Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour."
Jesus Christ was weary. See Isa_40:28 — "Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding."
Mat_8:24 "And behold there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep." Jesus Christ slept.
Compare to Psa_121:4-5 — "Behold he that keepeth Israel shall
neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is thy keeper; the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand."
Mat_21:18 — "Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered."
Jesus Christ hungered.
Joh_19:28 — "After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now
accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst." Jesus Christ thirsted.
Luk_22:44 "And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." Jesus Christ suffered physical agony.
1Co_15:3 — "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures."
Jesus Christ died.
First Proposition: Jesus Christ was subject to weariness, hunger, thirst, agony, and death — to the physical limitations of human nature.
INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL LIMITATIONS
Luk_2:52 RV — "And Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." Jesus Christ advanced in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. He was subject to human conditions of physical, mental, and moral growth.
Mark 1 1:13 — "And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find anything thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet."
Mar_13:32 — "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man; no, not the angels which are in Heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." Second Proposition: The knowledge of Jesus Christ was subject to limitation. (Compare to Luk_2:52.)
Note 1. His knowledge was self-limited. ( Php_2:5 RV — "Emptied himself." Must not press this verse too far. The context shows an emptying of glory rather than of attributes.)
Note 2. Joh_3:34 "For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him." As a teacher Jesus was divinely and fully inspired so that he spoke "the words of God." Note 3. The indwelling divine nature often burst through the veil of flesh (see passages under Chapter l), but as a man he was a real man in his mental makeup.
Heb_4:15 — "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."
Heb_2:18 — "For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted." (Comp. Jas_1:13 — "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God can not be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.
Third Proposition: Jesus Christ was tempted. He was subject to the essential moral limitations of human nature.
Note. A carnal nature is not an essential part of human nature. It does not belong to human nature as God made it. It is what has become part of human nature by sin. "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same: that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" ( Heb_2:14). Php_2:5-8 — "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Jesus Christ in His own moral limitation was self-limited. He voluntarily placed himself underneath the essential moral limitations that man is under in order to redeem man. Wondrous love! Note that He was tempted "without sin."
Fourth Proposition: Jesus Christ was subject to the intellectual and moral limitations essential to human nature.
LIMITATIONS OF POWER
Mar_1:35 — "And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed."
Joh_6:15 — "When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone." (Comp. Mat_14:23 — "And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.")
Luk_22:41-45 — "And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow."
Heb_5:7 — "Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared."
Fifth Proposition: Jesus Christ prayed (twenty-five times mentioned). He obtained power for work and for moral victory as other men do, by prayer. He was subject to human conditions for obtaining what He desired.
Act_10:38 — "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him."
Sixth Proposition: Jesus Christ obtained power for His divine works not by His inherent divinity but by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. He was subject to the same conditions of power as other men.
Joh_14:12 — "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father."
Seventh Proposition: Jesus Christ was subject to limitation in the exercise of power during the days of His humiliation.
Concluding Proposition: Jesus Christ was subject to human conditions for obtaining power and to human limitations in its exercise during the days of His humiliation.
V. HUMAN RELATION TO GOD.
Joh_20:17 — "Jesus saith unto her, touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them I ascend unto my Father and your Father; and to my God and your God."
Proposition: Jesus Christ called the Father "My God.'
Jesus Christ bore the relation of man to God the Father.
VI. HUMAN IN ALL THINGS.
Heb_2:17 RV — "Wherefore it behooved him in all things to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people."
First Proposition: Jesus Christ was made "in all things" like His brethren, subject to all the physical, mental, and moral conditions of existence essential to human nature.
Concluding Proposition: Jesus Christ was in every respect a real man. He became so voluntarily to redeem man ( Php_2:5-8; 2 Corinthians 8- 9). He partook of human nature that we might become partakers of the divine nature. 2Pe_1:4 — "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."
QUESTION: How shall we reconcile the Bible doctrine of the true Deity of Jesus Christ with the Bible doctrine of the real human nature of Christ?
ANSWER: That is not our main business. Our first business is to find out what the various passages mean in their natural grammatical interpretation. If we cannot reconcile them, we must believe them. It is a thoroughly vicious principle of interpretation that we must interpret every passage in the Bible so that we can readily reconcile it with every other passage. This gives rise to a one-sided theology. One man becomes a one-sided Calvinist and another a one-sided Arminian, and so on through the whole gamut of doctrine. Our business is to find out the plainly intended sense of the passage at hand as determined by usage of words, grammatical construction and context. Remember that in many cases two truths that seemed utterly irreconcilable or perfectly contradictory to us once are now, with increased knowledge, seen to beautifully harmonize. Truths that still seem to us to be contradictory perfectly harmonize in the infinite wisdom of God, and will some day, when we approach more nearly to God's omniscience, perfectly harmonize in our minds. How fearlessly the Bible puts the Deity and manhood of Jesus Christ in closest juxtaposition.
Mat_8:24-26 — "And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm."
Luk_3:21-22 — "Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased."
Joh_11:38; Joh_11:43-44 — "Jesus, therefore, again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. And when he had thus spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave-clothes; and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go."
Luk_9:28-29; Luk_9:35 — "And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistening. And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him."
Mat_16:16-17; Mat_16:21 — "And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. and Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day."
Heb_1:6 — "And again, when he bringeth in the first-begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him." (Compare to Heb_2:18 — "For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.")
Heb_4:14-15 — "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens,Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities: but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."