Don’t miss out on the first two parts of this series. For our final installment we’ll look at some specific examples of the human and divine natures of Christ in the incarnation and we’ll also look at the self-consciousness of Jesus.
Some Careful Distinctions Regarding the Incarnation
1. Jesus’ human nature – Ascended to Heaven (John 16:28, Acts 1:9-11)
Jesus’ Divine nature – Everywhere present (Matt. 18:20)
2. Jesus’ human nature – About 30 years old (Luke 3:23)
Jesus’ Divine nature – Eternally existent (John 1:1-2, 8:58)
3. Jesus’ human nature – Could become tired and weak (Matt. 4:2, 8:24)
Jesus’ Divine nature – Omnipotent (Matt. 8:26-27, Col. 1:17)
4. Jesus’ human nature – Was tempted (Heb. 4:15)
Jesus’ Divine nature – Was not tempted (James 1:13)
5. Jesus’ human nature – Died (Luke 23:46, 1 Cor. 15:3)
Jesus’ Divine nature – More powerful than death (John 2:19, 10:17-18, Heb. 7:16)
A Note of Clarification: When Jesus died, his physical body died and his human soul was separated from his body and passed into the presence of God the Father (Luke 23:43, 46). Through this he experienced death like the one that believers will experience. However, it is not correct to say that Jesus’ divine nature died or could die. To die means to cease activity or consciousness; it is a limitation of power. Although, through the union with Jesus’ human nature, his divine nature did experience what it was like to go through death in some way. Scripture doesn’t explicitly explain this, but it seems his divine nature somehow had to participate in the bearing of wrath against our sin. So, since both of Jesus’ natures shared in the experience, we can say that the whole person of Jesus went through death, or plainly put, that Christ died for us (1 Cor. 15:3).
The Self-Consciousness of the God-Man
It’s important to understand that Jesus had two modes of consciousness, divine and human. As previously discussed, that is not the same as having two persons in one body. Jesus has a divine perception and a human perception. An example of two forms of consciousness would be when I can feel hungry while I am writing this blog. Furthermore, Jesus doesn’t distinguish between his natures. When he speaks, he says, “I.” He doesn’t say, “This is my divine nature speaking,” or “This is my human nature.” Instead, Jesus switches from one mode of consciousness to the other.
Perhaps another example will bring additional understanding. I, Sara Boyd, am not 100% conscious of all that I know, 100% of the time. There are certain contexts when I recall something that I know, but that I’m not otherwise actively thinking about how I know that particular thing. For instance, I spent a year in Macedonia and still remember a bit of the lingo. On a normal day, I’m not thinking about how I know these phrases in Macedonian. However, there have been times in different t.v. shows and movies when a Macedonian character makes a statement in his native a language and I understand a few words of what he said. That experience allows me to recall that I know those phrases, even though I don’t actively think about that knowledge that I have. When Jesus is speaking in the consciousness of his human nature, he is not actively recalling all that he knows through his divine consciousness.
The Trinity in Light of the Incarnation
We have seen that Jesus has a divine essence, human soul and human body. So how did the incarnation affect the Trinity? First, when God became a man, he did not cease to be God (John 1:14). The best way to understand this is that the 2nd person of the Trinity is modified by the union with human nature. However, this does not change the actual constitution of the Trinity.
Hopefully this discussion on the humanity and divinity of Jesus has been helpful. For further study on this subject, I highly recommend Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology – An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine.
Sources for this article:
Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology; An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000.
Lewis, Kevin. Personal notes from Essential Christian Doctrine Lectures. Biola University; La Mirada, CA, 2013.
Shedd, William G.T. Dogmatic Theology. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2003.
