C.S. Lewis has famously said of Jesus, “Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.” There is no middle ground when it comes to who Jesus is. In this week’s text, the trial of Jesus in the courtyard of Pilate continues, and we see Pilate struggling through this very question.
The identity of Jesus is unique in the universe and difficult to grasp at times. Jesus is fully God and fully man, all at the same time. The theological term for it is The Hypostatic Union. More heresies of the church have arisen out of trying to explain the two natures of Jesus. One extreme heresy would deny that Jesus ever had a material, physical body. Another one says that Jesus only temporarily occupied His physical body. And yet others will deny the divinity of Jesus, espousing he only had the “spirit” of Jesus in a similar way to an Old Testament Prophet. In order for our salvation to be complete in Christ, Jesus has to be fully divine and fully human at the same time. The divine is needed to overcome and atone for the sin we have – only God can do that. Yet, that savior needed to be one of us so he could face the frailties of our human existence for us.
In John 19 Pilate tries to show to the Jewish leaders that Jesus is just a man. He flogs Jesus, makes a crown for Jesus out of thorns and puts a robe on him as the soldiers all mockingly call Jesus the King of the Jews. What Pilate doesn’t understand is that the frailty of Jesus’ humanity is all part of what was required for Him to do His work of salvation. The book of Hebrews describes Jesus as a High Priest that is “well acquainted with our sorrows.” That sorrow is on full display in the Passion of Jesus. Do you sometimes feel as though no one understands the sorrow you are going through? Jesus passionately understands the human experiences you and I have. In John’s Gospel, the author uses the term “Son of God” as a unique term to identify the fullness of who Jesus is. Fully God and fully man. Join me this Sunday as we explore the nature of Jesus that makes Him the Son of God and the savior of mankind.