‘Jesus – human AND divine?’

A lot of people have a lot of problems believing in the Christian faith. This is

not a modern phenomenon; it has always been the case. It is today, it was in

medieval times, it was in the first century AD or, so as not to upset the secular

atheists, the first century ‘CE’ (Common Era)

People have issues not only in general but in particular - in particular articles or

tenets of Christian doctrine or teaching. And one of those particular articles of

Christian belief – probably the greatest one, and certainly one of the greatest

problems people have in believing – is the belief that Jesus was both human

and divine; that is to say that he was at one and the same time both a man and

God – God who created the world and all life itself. But even if we believe that

there is such a thing, or, rather, person, as God, how can such a thing possibly

be?

To the modern mind, steeped as it is for so many ordinary people, in notions,

usually rather vague, of Evolutionism or Darwinism as the explanation for our

existence; or to the non-believing professional scientists with their very

prescriptive laws of materialistic science which determine what they will and

will not allow as evidence, the very idea seems quite absurd. So why even

bother with it?

Well, setting aside for a moment the fact that not only have millions and

millions of people for the past 2000 years, including very intelligent men and

women, and even Nobel Prize winning scientists believed it, I would have to

admit that the idea is extremely puzzling. How could an ordinary man,

however unsurpassed his moral teaching, however wonderful his character,

however unique his suitability as a role model for humanity, also be God?

Ironically, one of the first major heresies or erroneous beliefs within the early

Church was the belief that Jesus was so amazing in every way that he could not

possibly have really been human; he just gave the appearance of being so. But

today the reverse is the case: how could an ordinary man possibly be divine?

Now some will argue that those poor, simple minded, uneducated,

unscientifically qualified first century Christians were simply emotionally,

psychologically, and intellectually overwhelmed by the personality and

charisma of Jesus. As many people at the time said, ‘No one ever taught like

him.’ Or again, ‘No one ever did miracles on the scale he does them.’




And to support their argument those same people will point today to the

naivety and gullibility of the thousands who are taken in by some manipulative

US TV evangelists who have been shown to be quacks and charlatans.

But there is all the difference in the world between Jesus and such men: Jesus

did not wear crocodile skin shoes and live in mansions, whilst those charlatans

who have died did not rise to life again three days later – appearing on one

occasion to over 500 people at the same time - as proof that everything he

taught and claimed and did and promised could indeed be believed!

More importantly, not only did Jesus himself claim to be God – something no

other person in history (who was not known to be either evil or stark raving

bonkers) has ever claimed, he also claimed to be the God who created all life

and whose purpose in becoming human was to save humanity from its Self.

And that – his claim to be God - as history relates, was the reason why he was

executed – for blasphemy, precisely for claiming to be God.

As C.S. Lewis so famously put it, ‘Either Jesus was mad, bad, or God: the

evidence leaves us no other choice.’

Of course, some will argue about the reliability of the evidence for all this – his

teaching, his miracles, his claims, and of course his resurrection. But even

atheist historians and archaeologists will admit that the literary and

archaeological evidence for Christianity’s claims are second to none when

compared with the then contemporary events, but also for events of the next

1500 or more years!

Richard Dawkins’ caricatures of Christianity are just that: caricatures. Even his

sincere atheist colleagues are embarrassed by them. (I did hear one wonderful

story of an atheist scientist who came to faith in Christ because he realised

that Dawkins’ caricatures were not the real thing and because there were far

too many bright people who did believe Christianity, many of whom were

scientists and some Nobel Prize winning ones!)

As with pretty much everything in life, rational people believe something

because the quality of the evidence convinces them to put their faith in it even

if they do not fully understand it. For example, I don’t fully understand the

theory of flight, but I am happy to fly in a plane. I don’t understand gravity, but

I was happy to jump out of them as long as my parachute was attached …. Oh,

and my reserve!




I’d like to give you just three principal reasons or pieces of evidence that have

convinced me that Jesus was both human and divine, both man and God.

The first is philosophical: but please don’t be scared; Year 3 two years ago at

Brenchley and Matfield Primary (that’s 7 and 8 year olds) got this pretty much

straightaway. We do have high hopes for some in that year group but it does

remind me of Jesus’ words that it is children who understand the mysteries of

God and His kingdom so much more easily than sophisticated grownups.

If you were a wizard or a witch and could magic anything at all – I did say Year

3 remember – and you wanted to know, because you really loved them, what

it was like to think like a rabbit and feel like a rabbit and truly experience what

it was to be a rabbit, how could you best do that? Don’t worry, to avoid

embarrassing you I won’t put anyone on the spot to answer that this morning.

And so, yes, if you are God, and you love the human race you created and you

want not only to communicate with them in an unthreatening way but also be

as them, exemplify human life, and then save them, how best might you

accomplish that? Is there not a very compelling love AND logic in God’s

incarnation, in choosing, in one of his forms of being God, to become human?

But moving quickly on to my second piece of evidence: how did it happen that

the God-man Jesus came about? Often wrongly referred to as ‘the virgin birth’,

the ‘virginal conception’ of Jesus is the unique and only way that, biologically,

it could have happened. And the point is this. God’s Spirit, not Joseph’s seed,

bearing the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Son, combines with Mary’s

egg so that no new person is created: instead, the Second Person of the Trinity

embraces and assumes his humanity from her and is born as the infant Jesus.

Those who suggest that Joseph had been intimate with Mary beforehand or

that Mary might not have been the innocent the New Testament records her

being are simply woefully ignorant of Jewish society and culture of that time.

My third piece of evidence is what Jesus had to say about himself and how he

proved his claims about himself to be true. By his teaching and by his miracles

Jesus proved his direct and indirect claims to be the two things which got him

executed - that he had both authority over all life and that he could forgive

peoples’ sins. And of course the supreme piece of proof he gave was his

promised rising from death to new life again, the evidence for which is

thoroughly compelling but will never be sufficient for those who choose not to

believe it.




Does it matter? Does it matter that we believe that Jesus was God incarnate?

Well the writers of the New Testament are quite adamant that it does. St. Paul

wrote (Romans 10:v9) that such a belief is required if a person is to be saved

and reconciled to God; while St. John provides a sobering warning that anyone

who denies Christ’s true humanity as well as his deity is lost to God of their

own volition.

Does it matter today? Well if what you want is just a moral code for life, then

perhaps no. But if you are honest enough to admit that you cannot live up to

that moral code and realise that, without faith in Jesus Christ - God’s chosen

unique yet universal way to salvation - God cannot accept you, then yes indeed

it does matter.

Or if all you want from the Church is a cosy little group that leaves you feeling

good about the world and about yourself, then probably no. But if you are

troubled by bad habits, a bad conscience, and, yes, the other side of death, and

want to be saved from these, then yes indeed it does matter.

Or if you simply want a cultural or academic interest in some aspect of

Christianity such as music, architecture, church history, or New Testament

Greek, then, no, it probably doesn’t matter. But if you want to become an

effective disciple of his and live not just the comfortable and comforting parts

– not ‘just up for the craic’, as the Irish would say - but the serving and

suffering aspects too, then yes indeed it most certainly does matter because as

Jesus himself said, ‘Without me you can do nothing’.

Jesus embraced humanity because he wants to embrace each one of us now

and for eternity, each person he brought into being: but we can only know that

embrace and respond wholeheartedly to it once we know and believe who he

truly is, God himself who became one of us in order that you and I could be

with him for ever. All the while we doubt him, doubt that he is whom he

claimed to be, our hearts will be deficient in Christian love, our minds short-

changed of the truth, our discipleship ineffective.

He will not force his love upon us because that is not the way of love. Instead,

he leaves the choice up to each one of us. I pray that if you have not already

done so you will choose wisely and open or reopen your life to him: he is

always ready and longing to forgive and to come in.

Luke 3 verses 1 to 14

Just to recap, in the previous two chapters, Luke has told us about the events surrounding Jesus’ birth and early life, but also about how his cousin John the Baptist came to be born.

And as we move into chapter 3 we see John the Baptist starting to fulfil the mission that his Father Zechariah prophesied he would in chapter 1.

And the first thing Luke highlights about John the Baptist is that the word of God came to him. As with the prophets of the Old Testament God gave John a message to preach. It wasn’t John’s own message - it was God’s. God was speaking to the people of Israel through him.

As we’re told in verse 4, John’s role was to “prepare the way of the Lord and to make his paths straight.” He was to prepare the hearts of the Jewish people to receive Jesus, their Messiah.

And so the message God gave John was a call to repentance; it was a call to the people of Israel to repent and to turn back to the God of Abraham and Isaac and the Jacob – the God of their forefathers.

And as they confessed their sins and asked God to forgive them, John baptised them. He immersed them in the River Jordan to symbolise their being washed and made clean.

John’s style of preaching is very much Old Testament and very direct. He doesn’t pull his punches and he’s not terribly subtle. But he tells things as they are.

So, in verse 7 he calls those coming to him a brood of vipers. Why does he do this? Well, Satan is portrayed in the bible as a snake - for instance in Genesis when he tempts Adam and Eve. So, John is effectively telling the people that are coming to him that they are children of the devil.

It’s not the most endearing way to greet people, but theologically it’s true. Many people assume that we are all children of God, but actually this is not our default position.

Unfortunately – just like the devil – we all rebel against God and seek to please ourselves. We then inevitably hurt other people and grieve God.

We only become children of God as we come to recognise our predicament, and repent, which of course is what John was urging the crowds who came to him to do.

John the Baptist then warns the crowds not to assume that they’re right with God just because they’re descended from Abraham.

They may be descended from Abraham but they still have to make a personal decision to seek to honour God with their lives.

In other words, we shouldn’t sit here today and say well I’m OK because I’m an Anglican and I’ve been confirmed.

Confirmation is only of value if we genuinely mean the promises we undertake, if we sincerely turn away from what we know to be wrong and turn to Christ

Similarly, the water used in baptism isn’t magic. As my previous vicar used to say – if it was magic – he’d fix up a hose pipe and spray the local school children with it.

The water is symbolic, and again the efficacy of baptism depends on the promises that are made - being lived out.

Having called them snakes and warned them not be complacent just because they’re Jews, John then further warns his audience of the judgement that will one day come upon them if they don’t repent and turn back to God.

He says; “Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

It’s often uncomfortable for us as Christians to talk about judgement and as the Australian Rugby player Israel Folau can vouch – it can get us into hot water - but I believe that to avoid talking about judgement is actually unloving.

The bible makes it very clear that just as there is light and darkness and good and evil, there is heaven and hell.

Jesus tells us clearly in the gospels that one day he will return in order to judge all people – and that when that happens a separation will occur between those who have believed in him and put their faith in him and those who have chosen to reject him.

It’s more loving to try and warn people that God is going to judge us rather than to pretend everything will be OK.

We like the idea of Jesus as kind and gentle and loving and forgiving – which he is - but we don’t particularly like the idea of him as a judge.

As I’ve said before, because God is perfect, he is perfectly just. just, He can’t simply turn a blind eye to sin and say ‘there there never mind – it doesn’t matter.’

When people hurt and hate each other and damage each other’s lives and in so doing offend God, there is a price to pay.

Of course we have a choice as to who pays that price. It’s either Jesus or if we reject his offer of forgiveness - we will have to pay the price ourselves.

Because he loves us, Jesus has paid the price for our sins himself on the cross and has been punished in our place, but in order to avail ourselves of his forgiveness, as John the Baptist makes clear - we need to repent.

We need to make the decision to cease rebellion against God and to start to try and live in obedience to his commandments to love Him and to love others.

However our repentance must be genuine. If we’ve truly decided that we want to follow Christ we should bear fruits worthy of repentance as John puts it.

There’s a very good little 10 minute video on the Holy Trinity Brompton Church website. HTB as it’s called is where the Alpha course - which I’m sure most of you have heard of - originated.

This video is of Nicky Gumbel the vicar of HTB interviewing a man called Shane Taylor who’d been one of Britain’s most violent criminals.

Shane was so violent that at one stage he’d been locked away in solitary confinement as he’d stabbed two prison officers.

However he went on a prison Alpha course because he’d heard the biscuits were good, and surprisingly found it really touched his heart.

It helped him to realise that he hated who he’d become, and he really wanted to change, so he asked Jesus to forgive him and invited him into his life and he became a changed man.

He said that afterwards prison officers became his friends and having been released from prison he no longer goes into pubs looking for a fight but for someone to tell about Jesus.

He is now bearing good fruit – fruit that is worthy of repentance. And if we’ve truly repented and decided to follow Christ, really that’s what we should be doing.

If there truly has been an inner change in us, it should be evident in our words and actions.

However, the good fruit that John is talking about can only be borne by those who have genuinely repented and invited Jesus into their lives.

And this good fruit is brought forth as people seek to love God and their neighbour under the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

It’s interesting that John compares us to trees. Trees have sap in them and the sap that must be in us in order to bear good fruit, is the Holy Spirit - the Spirit of Jesus.

Jesus said that apart from him, we can do nothing. In other words although we can be kind and generous and do good deeds, unless the Spirit of Jesus is living in us – these things will only be of temporary, worldly value – not eternal value.

However as we seek to walk with God and to serve him, He can work through us to extend his kingdom – to draw people to himself, and to open their eyes to know him.

Christians are the body of Christ in the world. We are Jesus hands and feet and his mouth. As we co-operate with him, he can work through our bodies, to bless and encourage those around us, and to build his church, but he is the source of any fruit that we bear.

In verses 10 to 14 John gives practical examples of the types of things the people should be doing if they really have changed.

Notice that in all these examples the changed behaviour of an individual has a knock on effect to those around them.

So the person with 2 coats helps someone else who has none, and the tax collector improves the lives of those people on his round by not taking too much money from them. And the soldier no longer harasses and bullies others.

Life around the changed individual improves for those they come into contact with, and ideally it should be the same with us.

Of course the good fruit that we bear isn’t what saves us. What saves us is putting our faith in and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Think of the thief on the cross for instance. He hadn’t born any good fruit – but he put his faith in Jesus and asked him to save him. He simply said “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

So to tie up what I want to say this morning, really John’s message is as relevant today as it was 2000 years ago.

Christianity is about our eternal destinies. It’s about making our peace with God and finding a relationship with Him that will carry on into eternity.

And when we’ve found that relationship it’s about bearing good fruit, reaching out to others and helping them to find the same relationship.


There will one day be a day of judgement and it is essential therefore that initially we ourselves make the decision to repent and to follow Christ and then seek to work with God to lead those around us to make their peace with their Creator.

God loves every human being he has created and it is his desire that everyone should be saved.

And he has done everything necessary himself on the cross for everyone to be saved, but people can only be saved as they make the decision themselves to repent – to cease rebellion against their creator and invite Him into their lives.

If you haven’t yet made your peace with God I urge you to do so today – not just for yourself but for those you love and regularly come into contact with – so that God can reach out to them through you.

And if you’re already a Christian I’d urge you to renew your concern for those around you, to commit yourself to praying for them and to make every effort to work for the extension of God’s kingdom in the world.