New Testament Christology

The Humanity of Christ

The Incarnation

The word incarnation comes from the Latin in carne and literally means in flesh. As a Christian
doctrine the Incarnation has reference to the eternal Logos/Son of God becoming human for the
purpose of redeeming humanity from sin and death. Therefore the Incarnation has reference to all
of Jesus human existence and not simply to his conception or birth. For this reason the doctrine is
inextricably linked to our understanding of salvation.

The Incarnation shows forth the Sons perfect obedience to the Father, first in his coming as he was
sent by the Father (John 4:34; 5:1-47 [esp. 23-24, 30, 36-38]; 6:25-59 [esp. 29, 38-39, 44, 57]; 7:14-
43 [esp. 16, 18, 28-29, 32-33]; 8:12-47 [esp. 18, 26, 29, 42]; 9:4; 10:36; 12:44-45, 49; 13:20; 14:24;
15:21; 16:5; 17:1-25 [esp. 3, 8, 18, 21, 23, 25]; 20:21), and finally in his sacrificial death (Rom. 5:19;
Phil. 2:8; Heb. 5:7-9) which purchased/redeemed a people for God (Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45; 1Cor.
6:20; 7:23; 1Tim. 2:6; Heb. 9:15; Rev. 5:9; 14:4).

When the New Testament authors speak of the Incarnation it is always related to salvation (Matt.
1:21; Luke 2:11; John 1:1-18 [esp. 12-13], 29; Rom. 9:1-5; Gal. 4:1-7; Phil. 2:1-11; Col. 1:15-23;
1Tim. 3:14-16 [sanctification]; Heb. 1:1-14; 2:5-18; 10:1-18).

While the Incarnation is a distinctly Christian doctrine, and one that couldnt be worked out until it
actually happened (i.e., one couldnt develop a doctrine of the Word made flesh until the Word was
actually made flesh), there are precursors in the Old Testament that helped to set the conceptual
stage:

The Tabernacle/Temple (Exod. 29:42-46; 40:33-38; 2Sam. 7:1-16, cf. 1Chr. 17:1-14)
o God dwelled in a tent/tabernacle (which was constructed under the supervision of
Moses) and moved around with the children of Israel. David wanted to build God a
house/temple but it was to be his son Solomon1 who would build the temple (see
1Kgs. 8, cf. 2Chr. 6 for the completion of the project and dedication of the temple).
Its hardly coincidental, then, that John says The Word became flesh and dwelt [Gk.
/esknsen = pitched his tent or tabernacled] among us (John 1:14).
Also notice the connection between this verse where the glory of the incarnate Son
is seen because he has pitched his tent among us and Exod. 29:43 where the

1Note that 2Sam. 7:14 is cited in Heb. 1:5 and applied to Jesus. Solomon built a temple for God to dwell in but this temple
was destroyed (then rebuilt by Herod and destroyed again); Jesus on the other hand is the embodiment of God, i.e., his
physical body is quite literally Gods dwelling place but he also prepares another dwelling place for God, i.e., his
metaphorical body, when he saves us (Paul calls the body of Christ the temple of God after all [1Cor. 3:16-17; 6:19; 2Cor.
6:16, cf. Lev. 26:11-12).
 tabernacle is consecrated by YHWHs glory. John Walton noted in his book The Lost
World of Genesis One that [A] temple is not simply an aggregate of fine materials
subjected to expert craftsmanship. The temple uses that which is material, but the
temple is not material. If God is not in it, it is not a temple. (p. 88)
Theophanies (appearances of God)
o YHWH himself appeared to Abraham (Gen. 18-19)
o The Angel of YHWH/God speaks as God; acts as God; is equated with God; and
speaks of God as distinct from himself (Gen. 16:7-14; 21:12-18; 22:11-18; 31:11-13;
Exod. 3:1-22; 13:21-22, cf. 14:19-20; Num. 22:34-35, cf. 22:38 & 23:12; Jdg. 2:1-4;
6:11-24; 13:3-23; Zech. 3:1; 12:8)
o God was seen by Jacob (Gen. 32:30); Moses and the elders (Exod. 24:11); and
Manoah and his wife (Jdg. 13:22)

It is quite common for people who deny the deity of Christ to focus upon his humanity. Theyll often
point to this or that aspect of his humanity and say something like, Jesus cant be God because God
doesnt [fill in the blank] or God isnt [fill in the blank], but this misses the key component of the
Incarnation, i.e., that God became flesh; that God the Son added humanity to himself. We expect
Jesus to be human because Jesus is human! So its no great shock to read that:

Jesus was born (Matt. 1; Luke 2)

Jesus has a physical body (Luke 24:39; John 20:27)
Jesus grew and became strong (Luke 2:40)
Jesus got tired (John 4:6)
Jesus got hungry (Matt. 4:2; Luke 4:2)
Jesus got thirsty (John 19:28)
Jesus wept (John 11:35)
Jesus prayed (Matt. 26:36-44; Mark 14:32-39; John 17)
Jesus was tempted (Matt. 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13; Heb. 2:18; 4:15)
Jesus increased in wisdom (Luke 2:52)
Jesus learned obedience (Heb. 5:8)
Jesus exhibited ignorance2 (Matt. 24:36; Mark 13:32)
Jesus died (Matt. 27:50; Mark 15:37; Luke 23:46; John 19:30)
Jesus was called a man3 (Mark 15:39; John 19:5

2 Note that ignorance is not derogatory of negative; it simply means that one doesnt know something.

3 Its interesting to note that very often people who deny the deity of Christ argue that because Jesus never made an
explicit claim to be God (e.g., I am God) then he couldnt have been God despite the fact that others claim that he is God
(e.g., Thomas in John 20:28), yet these same people dont acknowledge that Jesus never made an explicit claim to be man
(e.g., he never said, I am a man) but presumably they have no issues with others describing Jesus as a man.

Also worth noting is the fact that one of the earliest heresies was docetism (from the Greek /doke meaning "to
seem") which taught that Jesus only seemed human. In other words, they affirmed that Jesus was God but wouldnt
affirm his real humanity. We see this very teaching combated most strongly in the Gospel and Epistles of John with the
emphasis on the Word becoming flesh (see John 1:14; 20:27; 1John 1-3; 4:2-3; 2John 1:7). Notice how John claims to have
seen, heard, and touched Jesus. Those who deny that Jesus has come in the flesh are called antichrists.