Expert: Dr Don Howe - 3/5/2008

Question
QUESTION: Is Jesus a human today? If so, is he a Jew today? Why or why not? Thank you.

ANSWER: Ray, thank you for your question. Your question is "Is Jesus a human today?" And the answer is no. Jesus was born of a virgin mother approximately 1 B.C. and he was God in the flesh (human). He died on the cross in 32 A.D. for the sins of the world. He was resurrected and sits on the right hand of God the Father in Heaven at this very moment. So Jesus is not a human today. But Jesus lives in us today through the Holy Spirit when you become born again and as Jesus to be your Savior.
I Hope This Helps.
Dr. Don Howe, PhD, ThD.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION:     Then what does 1 Timothy 2:5 mean? (also see Greek interlinear) Thank you.

Answer
Thank you, Ray for your question. Your question is "Then what does 1 Timothy 2:5 mean?"
1 Timothy 2:5 states "For [there is] one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;"

 This verse can be broken down into three parts of one God, one mediator, and Jesus Christ. In 1 Tim. 2:5a, the word For is a conjunction which is gar in the Greek and it means “indeed” or “and in fact.” And Paul is using this for emphasis. And in fact (gar) there is one God. This one God is common to all. Isa. 45:22 tells us there is none else but God,  “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I [am] God, and [there is] none else.” Deut. 6:4 states “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God [is] one LORD.” Jesus tells us in Mark 12:29 “And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments [is], Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord.” Apostle Paul gives the same declaration in Romans 3:30, “Seeing [it is] one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith.” There are many other verses I could use, but this  shows that Moses, Isaiah, Mark, and Paul are all saying God is the one God.
 In 1 Tim. 2:5b states “and one mediator between God and men.” Mediator is mesitçs in the Greek which means “one who mediates” or “one who acts as a guarantee.” Jesus is the one who mediates or acts as the guarantee between the one true God and men. Jesus tells us in John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way (the only way), the truth (the only truth), and the life (there is no life without him): no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (the mediator).” Jesus is the mediator between us and the Father and there is no other way. One’s good works, being a good father, good mother, good boss, or good anything will get you a one way ticket to eternal damnation. Work Salvation will “work” you into a place you may not want to be. One has to be born again and saved by the blood of Jesus (the only way and mediator) or we do not get to lay eyes on the Father. Jesus was very straight and to the point. There is no guesswork on this doctrine, but men still think they can work their way to Heaven.
 Now the third part of 1 Tim 2:5c states “the man Christ Jesus.” For Jesus to be our Mediator he had to become a man and have human characteristics. But he was not just an individual man, he was also the Second Person of the Godhead. Jesus represented and embodied in Himself the whole human race and nature. Why did he do this? So he could be our High Priest in Heaven and mediating between and a Holy God. The writer of Hebrews 2:14-18 tells us that Jesus took on nature of man and also another reason. Let’s see what God has to say in this text Heb. 2:14-18, “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same (flesh, blood. humanity); that through death he might destroy him (the devil) that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on [him the nature of] angels; but he took on [him] the seed of Abraham (humanity). Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto [his] brethren (man), that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things [pertaining] to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.” So Jesus took on flesh, blood, and humanity so he could destroy the devil (Satan) at the resurrection, Jesus took on the seed of Abraham (born in the lineage of David from Mary not Joseph), he experienced all things just like his brethren, to be the a merciful and faithful High Priest for us pertaining to God to make reconciliation for our sins, he was tempted (humanity) like we are tempted, so he could “succour them that are tempted.” The word succour is boçtheô in the Greek which means to come to the aid of, help, or mediate. For clarity  Jesus came in his humanity to do these things: 1) in his humanity he defeated the devil at Calvary, 2) he took on humanity so he could take on “all that behoved his brethren,” 3) He is our faithful and merciful High Priests as the mediator or “one who comes to the aid of” us that are tempted in things pertaining to God, and 4) he makes reconciliation for sins of the people (us).
 The writer of Hebrews states the same thing in Heb. 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.” This tells us again that Jesus is our High Priest which was tempted and has felt the same “feelings of our infirmities” like us, but HE IS WITHOUT SIN.
 Ray, do not get caught up a doctrine that some theologians have of a “Jesus Only” theology. They say that God can not be omnipresent or omniscient if the heavens are thought to be vacant while Jesus was here on earth, but became filled once again upon His ascension and obliteration of His humanity. As one writer wrote “Jesus is viewed as a human ShopVac that sucked all of God out heaven and into a human body, but at the ascension the ShopVac ceased to exist, releasing God to fill the heavens once again.” This is false doctrine that is refuted in the two Hebrew text.
 The incarnation of Jesus was not God changing into a man and ceasing to be who He was in Himself. The incarnation is God coming to exist in a new manner as man, while continuing to exist in Himself as He always has. God did not sacrifice His deity to become man. He merely incorporated a human existence into His one divine person. Because God continued to exist beyond the incarnation as He always had, God continued to be omniscient even while Jesus was on earth. So Jesus’ eternal humanity does not impose any more problems that did His earthly humanity. Christ’s humanity did not limit God’s omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence during His earthly journey, and so it is to stand that Christ’s continued humanity in Heaven as our mediator and High Priest does not limit God’s omniscience in heaven. The “Jesus Only” theology is not possible due to God’s immutability.
 Okay Ray, back to your original question “Is Jesus a human today? If so, is he a Jew today? The answer is no and yes. Again Jesus does not live today as a man on earth in his earthly humanity. But Jesus does existence in Heaven as noted above in His eternal humanity, and he is still God, our High Priest, and is the mediator for us.
 I hope this helps. This is a deep doctrine to understand.
Thanks.
Rev. Dr. Don Howe, PhD, ThD, D.D.