J E S U S — Divine, Human, Fictional?
How can we share our beliefs with our friends who don’t believe in Jesus?
Many people find Jesus to be a difficult character to get their heads round! Was he a made up figure, a human being, the Son of God, a mixture?
John’s Gospel displays Jesus in a variety of ways where he is confessed as both divine and human. Jesus is displayed as a healer, exposing his divinity and Messiahship. Yet at the same time he shares the very nature of man demonstrated through his genuine love and human characteristics which reflects his humanity.
At the beginning of John’s Gospel it declares in 1:1–18, “the Word was God.” John presents Jesus as the eternal Word. John is the only writer who calls Jesus, “The Word,” showing Jesus’ divinity, bridging the gap between God and the world. We know that the “The Word” refers to Jesus Christ because John 1 verse 14 says “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” The “Word” represents His Deity, yet His “Flesh” reflects his humanity which regards Jesus as a human who possessed actual flesh and blood, the same as other people.
John displays Jesus as the Son of God and speaks of “the Son” and “the Son of God” 29 times in total which refers to Jesus’ claim to be the Messiah.
Personally I think the most amazing things about Jesus is what he came to earth for. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” I love the way that God sent Jesus down in human form. We know that Jesus was fully human from the passage in John 19: 30–34 where it explains that when the soldiers pierced Christ’s side with a spear, water and blood flowed out; showing the separation of fluids when the body’s system stopped functioning. This indicates that Jesus truly died as a human being, with a genuine human body.
We also see Jesus’ humanity on the cross when Jesus says, “I thirst.” (John 19:28) This fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy in Psalm 69:21. He exhibits normal human characteristics here. In John 11:35 we read, “Jesus wept.” He joins his friends’ sadness with heartfelt sorrow, although he knew that resurrection and joy would follow. Jesus’ humanity fully relates to people’s emotions shown through weeping. Not only is his loving and caring nature demonstrated, but his divinity is displayed when Jesus heals Lazarus from afar by his power and authority.
It can be sometimes a challenge to get this across to our friends if they ask us our thoughts on who we believe Jesus to be. They might challenge us and say ‘How can a man be sent from heaven?’ or ‘You don’t really believe that Jesus was real?’ or even, ‘It’s just not possible for Jesus to be divine and human at the same time?’
Dr W.A. Brown states, “In this divine human person the ever recurring antinomy of the universe is presented in a living symbol- the antinomy of the eternal in the temporal, of the infinite in the finite, of the divine in the human.”
John has captured Christ’s earthly ministry to reflect his humanity and divinity in a remarkable way. In his divinity we see his humanity, and in his humanity we see his divinity. The Son of God became Son of Man in order to reveal God, the Father. The Son of Man is the bridge between God and humanity. To know Jesus is to know the Father.
Jesus is not a made up, fictional character. He was and is still is, the Son of God, who became man to bear our sins on the cross. May we be bold in sharing who Jesus is and what he has done for us.
This week may we be able to share the HOPE of freedom which Jesus came to give us and the amazing act of His love demonstrated on the cross.