Jesus was Fully Human

A popular trope in books and movies is to have a character appear to be one thing (poor, average, crazy, normal, etc.), but in reality, he or she is so much more (like a king, princess, billionaire, superhero, etc.).

This is how some people view Jesus in Scripture. They saw Him as a character who appeared to be only human, but in reality turned out to be so much more.

The Docetists of the first century did the opposite, though. They had no problem seeing Jesus as God. They just couldn’t fathom that He was actually human. Like the Gnostics, hardcore Docetists thought mortal flesh was evil, and so (they reasoned) Jesus couldn’t have actually had human DNA.

But just after pointing out Jesus was fully God in Philippians 2:7 (from our key passage for this One Thought series from Philippians 2:3-11), the Apostle Paul then stated Jesus was simultaneously fully human. Here is how the English Standard Version translates his words:

“but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” (Philippians 2:7, ESV)

While the Docetists would say Jesus was only “like” a man, but not really human, Paul’s point is that Jesus took on human nature (the “likeness” of mankind). In other words, He was fully man with fully human DNA. Jesus hungered. He slept. He laughed. He cried. He lived a fully human experience… because He was fully human, “born in the likeness of men.”

This core theological concept is critical to our understanding of the gospel. If He wasn’t human, then Jesus couldn’t be the true & greater high priest who could represent mankind to God, nor could He have died in humanity’s place upon the cross. But by being fully human, He could accomplish for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves.

I hope this one thought leads you to worship Jesus, the Son of God who set aside His rights as God to take on human flesh, with great thanksgiving today!