CHAPTER 3
The God-nature, man-nature of Jesus


         Pilate asked a couple of questions to Jesus that we are still asking today. "What is truth?" and with that question still unanswered, we go out and do our thing just as Pilate did. (Check John 18:38). But when Pilate found out that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, he was more afraid than ever so he goes back to Jesus and he asks another question that we are asking today also. It goes like this, "Where are you from?" He wasn't asking Jesus where was he born or raised but who is he or what is he? The Jews wanted to kill him because he claimed to be the Son of God. We as Christians claim to be sons of God and so did the Jews in Jesus' day. By reading John 8:41, the Jews claimed that God was their Father too. So what is going on? Why would they want to kill Jesus because he claimed to be the Son of God? Didn't they make the same claim? To see the answer to this question even clearer, we need to examine more of Jesus' life in seeing the things that he did and the things that he said.

         In Matt. 4:4,7,10 are the answers that Jesus gave to the questions that Satan used on him at the temptation. I would like to discuss a couple of them. In the first temptation, we see Satan talking to Jesus, "And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." -(Matthew 4:3)
        Remember Jesus hasn't eaten in forty days and nights. Here is what Jesus told him, "But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." -(Matthew 4:4)

         The next temptation that I would like to discuss is where Satan took Jesus and what he told him,
"Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
"And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." -(Matthew 4:8,9)

And the answer that came back into Satan's ears:
"Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." -(Matthew 4:10)

         In answer to this temptation, Jesus told him that we are to worship and serve only God. Based on these two temptations, I would like to share with you some things that Jesus did after he comes out of the temptation. He goes into town and he preaches the biggest recorded sermon in the New Testament, the sermon on the mount (Check Matthew 5,6,7). In this particular sermon, he says some remarkable things in v. 21 of Matthew 5 and on. He says, "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you,...."(Matthew 5:21,22)

         Over and over, he says this, all though this chapter and this is the very first recorded sermon after the temptation. God wants us to think about what is happening. He told Satan that man doesn't live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. He (Jesus) quotes Old Testament Scripture and then he says, 'But I say unto you..' He is telling men how to live. He finishes his sermon and then comes a leper and falls down before Jesus and worships him. Remember Jesus told Satan at the temptation that you are to worship God and only him. Yet he accepted the worship of the leper and many other people all through the Gospels. (Check Matthew 8:1-3)

         We need to see Jesus as God and Jesus as a man. For him to retain his Deity, he had to retain his attributes, characteristics as God and for him to become a man, he had to become just like us. In other words, God as a man could be tempted, God as God could not be tempted. In his humanity, he ate, slept, he got weak, tired, etc. In his Deity, he knew men's thoughts, he saw things when he wasn't present, he was worshipped (God lives in me but people don't worship me.) ((Worship will be discussed in another Chapter.)) In his humanity he prayed, depended upon and he worshipped God. In his Deity, he was all knowing. As God, Jesus is prayed to. Check Acts 2:21 (cf.) Rom. 10:6- 13, 16. (Ck. John 12:36-41)
Acts 9:10-16-- In reference to Ananias speaking to Jesus about Paul arresting those who call upon the name of Jesus, or should I say those who pray to Jesus.
I Cor. 1:2-- Calling upon Jesus, praying to him.
II Tim. 2:22-- Calling upon the Lord out of a pure heart, this is Christians talking to, praying to Jesus. (Cf. heart is purified by faith- Acts 15:9.)

         The "first Adam" blew it in the Garden of Eden but the "last Adam" corrected it. Reading:
"And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. -(1 Cor 15:45)

         Now watch the "last Adam" talk and he does this all through the word.
Luke 21:29-36
"29. And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
"30. When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
"31. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
"32. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
"33. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
"34. And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
"35. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
"36. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
         Just a few comments here to show an interesting point. As I discussed earlier, Jesus is continually telling people how to live and as we can see he is doing it here, once again. Also within these verses, he puts himself on a pretty high level, he says that his words will not pass away but heaven and earth will pass away. That's heavy! Then by the time that we get to verse 36, he makes another strong statement. He tells us to watch and pray always that we may be accounted worthy to escape all of these things and stand before the Son of man. Before who? "The Son of man!" He didn't say Jehovah God, he said before the Son of man.

         Now I would like to share a few of the times that He talks in the third person.
Mark 10:33-34
"33. Saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles:
"34. And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again."

I would like to share another one in Luke and then make a few comments.

Luke 18:31-33
"31 Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.
"32 For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on:
"33. And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again."
         Just imagine me doing what Jesus is doing here. I say, "Well, tomorrow we are going to Boise and they are going to deliver Danny Bunn up to the Roman Catholics, Mormons, and Jehovah's Witnesses and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the unbelievers; And they shall mock him, and scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again."
         What happened to me? I keep talking about him. Am I talking about me or him? God had two natures, one of human origin and the other Deity. Even I as a Christian have two natures, one sinful and one born of God. Isn't that what Paul talks about in Romans 7?

Going to Luke 19:32-34
"32 And they that were sent went their way, and found even as he had said unto them.
"33 And as they were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said unto them, Why loose ye the colt?
"34 And they said, The Lord hath need of him."
         I thought that I would throw a thought based on these verses in Luke 19 by reading an Old Testament verse. When they went and got the colt, Jesus fulfilled another prophecy. It says, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass." -(Zech 9:9)
         Who is Zion's only King with salvation or is salvation? The same question for Jerusalem's King?

Let's go to Isa. 50:1-7 first and read a little.
"1 Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.
"2 Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst.
"3 I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.
"4 The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.
"5 The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.
"6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
"7 For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed."
         The Lord God was talking and we get to verse 4 and it changes. In verse 2, he asks some questions, "Is my hand shortened that it cannot redeem?" and he says, "or have I no power to deliver?"
         The Messiah appears in v. 4 and on. he is doing a work to deliver mankind, to totally set them free. So we see that God's hand is not shortened and he does have power to deliver.
         Crossing with Isa. 52:13-15 should help us to see this even clearer.
"13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
"14 As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:
"15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider."
         One thing is for sure, this person is going to be doing an outstanding work.

Now to Isaiah 53:1-11,
"1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
"2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
"3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
"4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
"5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
"6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
"7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
"8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
"9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
"10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
"11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities."
         All of that is powerful but I am just going to focus on verse 11 for now,
"..for he shall bear their iniquities." God in his humanity can do what God in his deity cannot do, and that is 'bear sins', He can't even look upon sin, much less bear it.

         Let's take a break and go to Isa. 42:8 since we are fairly close to that chapter. It says,
"8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images." (Isaiah 42:8)
        Check out Jesus' prayer in John 17:5
"5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was."
         Jehovah God says that he won't give his glory to another, yet Jesus received God's praise continually most of the three years of his ministry.

         For more illustrations of Jesus, the God-man let's check out Isaiah 59:15-20.
"15 Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.
"16 And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.
"17 For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke.
"18 According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence.
"19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.
"20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD."

And Isa. 63:5,6:
"5 And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me.
"6 And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth." (Isaiah 63:5,6)
         In the verses that we have quoted here, we see that God himself brought salvation since there was no one else who could.

         Now going to Deut. 18, John 12, Heb. 2; we're going to look a little at his human side.
"18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
"19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him."(Deut. 18:18,19)

"8 For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always." John 12:8
         Think about this one, as God he said that he would never leave or forsake us but as man he did... As we see in John 14 and 1:12 and other places.

(Hebrews 2:14-18)
"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;
15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted."
         In these Scriptures, we see that this person before his human manifestation was something before he came as a Prophet to his people, that he won't always be with them in the flesh, that he didn't take on the nature of angels but he took on flesh and blood. He didn't become an angel, he became a man. Who or what was he before?

(Matthew 24:36-39)
"36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."
         We see that this Son of man is leaving but he is coming back. What about the Son of God? He lives in me and every other Christian. So because of that, he is everywhere present. So he will come back in the Son of Man even though he is here now. And when the Messiah comes back in the physical, you better know him as your Lord and Saviour. He is already here in the spiritual calling, convicting, drawing men and women to himself.

Matt. 12:39,40 says,
"But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (KJV)
         I believe that the Son of God separated from the Son of man in the absolute sense of the word (Cf. Matt. 27:46)-- He was speaking in his humanity here not as Deity. God forsook the body for that he created for himself since he became a man or to say since he put on flesh. God cannot look on sin and when Jesus took on the sins of the world, God had to exit the body that he created for himself. There must have been a separation of his humanity and Deity at this point and time.
         Lambs were sin offerings in the O.T. and they don't have spirits. So the Son of man, the last Adam was the sin offering for the world's sins. His body was a sin offering just as a lamb's body in the O.T. was a sin offering. Remember Jesus was the Lamb who took the sins of the world.

         Jesus as God could not be tempted (James 1:13) and he sure couldn't sin. Jesus as man could be tempted and was tempted and could sin but chose not to. (Matt. 4:1, Heb. 2:18, 4:15)

James 1:13 "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:"

Matthew 4:1 "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil."

Hebrews 2:18 "For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted."

Hebrews 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."