Jesus: God incarnate

If Jesus was God incarnate, it tells us several things about God.  Firstly, God is not disinterested in our lives, or in our suffering.  He shares in them fully.  He (he?) is not aloof.  He is not in fact especially religious, if by that you mean formalized legalism — in fact he attacks it.  He is not patriarchal, proud, or self-important; as we see when we look at his relationships with women, and with his followers.  He is not unknowable.  He takes opon himself our culture and our language — in fact our nature — to reveal himself to us.  He is not imposing on us arbitrary rules, or setting us up to fail — rather he has become our teacher and our friend, to make us ultimately perfect.  He knows what we are worth:  We are worth — apart from all of the preliminaries — dying for.

God’s incarnation is not just a picture of his own nature, but of what ours ought to be, and by implication can become — more committed to others, even those who hate us, than to our own image or rights, our own comforts, convenience or culture.  Incarnation is the most amazing thing in the world, because it communicates the nature of God through human media.

This page adresses what Jesus, and the New Testament more generally, has tosay about his incarnation.  Other pages which relate to this include Resurrection and Message.

The central theme of the gospels, leading as they do toward Jesus trial, execution, and the ensuing events, is the rising tide of animosity towards him.  This mainly stemmed from a perception that he was "making himself equal with God" (Jn 5:18) which, of course, was blasphemy under Jewish religious law.

But clear statements of this are comparatively rare in the gospels, however -- Jesus did not make his divinity a major theme of his teaching. It is difficult to argue against the idea that his followers believed he was God, as the passages from the New Testament letters below will indicate. The question is: Did he teach it? (Or believe it himself, as is the usual implication.)

The accounts themselves supply a reason why Jesus would not have emphasised this point until near the very end of his life: It was, as noted, a capital offence to claim to be God under the religious law (see the trial passages below.) The sections which make it most clear that Jesus fully plans to die (cf. Mat. 16:21, 17:22-23, 20:17-19, 26:2, Mk. 8:31, 10:45, 12:1-12 [v.6!], Lk.9:43-45, Jn.10:17-18, Jn.12:20-36) are very mission focussed: he intends to die in a particular manner, for a specific purpose. Not just any timing would have done. Regarding many events in his life (some unique and some recurring) volatile enough to have affected the timing of his death (Mat. 8:29, 9:30-31, 12:14-16, 16:13-20, 17:9, Mark 3:11-12, 5:43, 7:36-37, 8:26, 9:9), he orders secrecy, at least until afterwards.

Accordingly, it is during the final weeks of his life, and most dramatically, at his trial, we find the clearest claims. These come when the obvious reasons for silence are no longer relevant, since he fully intends to be condemned now. Consider the progression shown below. Remember that the important point in each case (given that we do not understand the culture & beliefs of first century Jews as well as they themselves did) is the reactions of those who were there.

In what follows, square brackets indicate parallel passages in other parts of the Bible.

• Matthew quotes Isaiah 9 in reference to Jesus
  (Mat.4:16-17, Isa.9:1-2). The significance becomes clear as you read through Isaiah 9: "Unto us a son is given... he will be called... Mighty God, Everlasting Father..." (v6)

• He claims to be able to forgive sins.
  (Mark 2:1-12, Lk.5:24). The reaction of the religious authorities is to accuse him of blasphemy: "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" (Mk.2:6, Lk.5:21 cf. Lk.7:44-49)

• He claims the authority to reinterpret the Law given to Moses, in particular regarding the Sabbath.
  (Mat.12:14,[Mark 3:1-6, Lk.6:1-10], Lk.13:10-17). Again, observe the reactions.

• John refers to Jesus as 'The Word', having equated 'The Word' with God. (Jn.1:1-4, 10, 14, 18).

  1. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God". (1:1)

  2. "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father..." (1:14)

  3. "He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognise him." (1:11)

• His statement, 'Before Abraham was, I am', nearly gets him stoned for blasphemy. (Jn.8:48-59) - I AM was the name by which God revealed himself to Moses in (Exodus.3:14).

• His statement 'I and the Father are One', attracts the charge that "you, a mere man, claim to be God." (Jn.10:22-39, espec.v36.)

• He approves of Thomas' statement in which he is called "My Lord and my God". (Jn.20:26-29) - Jesus response was effectively, "So finally you believe!"

• He receives worship from others, without evident disapproval. (Mat.14:32-33, 28:9).

In general, just tracing the controversies between Jesus and the religious leaders will turn up this pattern, particularly in Matthew and John, the gospels which focus more on Jesus' Jewish identity than his universal relavance.

Let us come now to Jesus' trial. (Mat.26-27, Mk.14-15, Lk.22-23, Jn.18-19) It is going poorly, the trial (the preliminary trial before the Sanhedrin, prior to the legal trial before the Roman Governor) is evidently rigged. Even so, the prisoner is saying nothing in his own defence, not even answering the charges against him. Except for what he says at this point:

61 ... Again the high priest asked him: "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?" 62 "I am," said Jesus. "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven." 63 The high priest tore his clothes. "Why do we need any more witnesses?" he asked. 64 "You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?" They all condemned him as worthy of death.

Mk.14:61-64 [Mat.26:63-66,(var) Lk.22:67-71]

Initially it seems unclear how this constitutes blasphemy. Certainly an exalted role in God's purposes is being claimed, but how does this constitute a claim to BE God? The key is to recognise, as those present would have, that he was quoting from the Old Testament (as we would call it) book of Daniel:

13 In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshipped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

Daniel 7:13-14

'Son of Man' was Jesus favourite term for himself (used 78 times in the gospels). What is most astonishing is that in quoting this passage, besides noting that he expects to be worshipped by everyone, and exercise sovereign power, he moreover predicts his resurrection, when he expected to return to "the glory I had with you [God] before the world began". (Jn.17:1-5, - consider too Heb1:4, Mat.28:18, Luke.1:30-33, Mat.22:24 [Mk.12:36] - I leave the conclusions to you.)

Philip Yancey expresses the incongruity of the expectations of this condemned prisoner well in a passage which initially seems overstated, until you consider what Jesus just said.

The might of the world, the most sophisticated religious system of its time allied with the most powerful political empire, arrays itself against a solitary figure, the only perfect man who has ever lived. Though he is mocked by the powers and abandoned by his friends, yet the gospels give the strong, ironic sense that he himself is overseeing the whole long process. He has resolutely set his face for Jerusalem, knowing the fate that awaits him. The cross has been his goal all along. Now, as death nears, he calls the shots.

Philip Yancey: The Jesus I Never Knew (p188. Zondervan, 1995)

It should of course be added that a large measure of the opposition to him was political in nature. Jesus, who disagreed with and spoke against the religious rulers, was very popular among the people (Mat.16:14, Lk.19:47-48). Some of the people wanted to make him a king (Jn.6:15), presumably to liberate Israel from servitude to the Roman Empire. The leaders correctly recognised that this would mean a kind of national suicide, given how the Romans dealt with insurrections (Consider John 11:45-53; Israel was, in the end, destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE for rebellion).

Nonetheless, the passages above, within this wider context, are plain enough evidence of claims to divine nature and authority. As such they generated much of the antagonism, and, while 'Claiming to be a king' was the charge at his civil trial (the phrase 'King of the Jews' appears 16 times in the four accounts of his trial and crucifixion, and only once elsewhere in the Bible), blasphemy, on account of claiming to be God, was the charge at his preliminary trial before the religious leaders.

Similarly, divine claims are made about Jesus throughout the New Testament. We will now look at some of these.

Hebrews chapters 1 and 2 form the longest single passage on Jesus' nature. You can have a great time with the door-to-door advocates of different cult groups, by asking them to explain Hebrews 1 to you -- a number of prominent groups understand Jesus to be an angelic being of some kind.

Jesus preexisted, and therefore cannot be merely human.

Heb.1-2 are concerned with the identity of Jesus, as a necessary precursor to discussing the relationship between the new covenant (or testament) which he inaugurated, and the older one which laid the groundwork for it. It is noted that through 'his Son' God made the universe (Heb 1:2, cf. John 1:10-15), a fact sufficient to establish his preexistence, and rule out the possibility that the Bible understands Jesus to be merely human. I direct your attention specifically to Hebrews 2:14,17: "Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity... he had to be made like his brothers in every way...". Thus he both "was made a little [or for a little while] lower than angels" (2:7) in his incarnation, and also "became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs." (1:4) afterwards.

Jesus is superior to angels, and by implication, was not one.

1:5 asks the rhetorical question, "To which angel did God ever say, 'You are my Son?'". This is plainly something different to the general references to humans and angels as 'sons of God'. In 1:6, God is quoted from Deuteronomy 32:43, declaring of the Son, 'Let all God's angels worship him.' The question should occur at this point, "If Jesus was neither man nor angel then, what was he?"

Jesus is God.

In 1:8-9 the author quotes Psalm 45:6 as a declaration in which God declares 'about the Son', "Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever". So God... calls Jesus... God.

The remainder of Hebrews 1 and 2 discusses Jesus nature further, but these initial passages are most relevant to the question of his incarnation.

Most often, though, references to Jesus' divinity are only made in passing, except for the sustained argument in Hebrews. I have listed some below. More could be added which ascribe to Jesus particular divine attributes or titles, but again, the evidence is less direct than in the following. These verses tend to attract controversy. An asterisk (*) notes if a verse's translation is controversial.

• "For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering." (Romans 8:3)

• [of Israel] "...theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised." (Rom.9:5)*

• "15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the firstborn from the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fulness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:15-20)

• 9 For in Christ, all the fulness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been given fulness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. (Col.2:9-10)

• 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Jesus Christ: 6 Who, being in very nature [or in the form of] God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but he made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And, being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death -- even to death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth, and under the earth... (Philippians 2:5-10)

• To those who through the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as our own. 1 Peter 1:1

• We know that the Son of God has come and given us understanding so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true -- even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. (1Jn.5:20)

From these passages it is reasonably clear why Jesus has been regarded as God incarnate throughout Church history.

There are other grounds for believing this from the New Testament. Much has been made of the significance of the terms 'Son of Man' and 'Son of God' as they are used of Jesus, the precise nature of his miracles, and his arguable habit of quoting of the divine name 'I Am' in reference to himself. I consider these arguments to be less intuitively obvious than those supplied, and will pass over them for the sake of brevity.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society.
Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.