Reclaiming the Humanity of Jesus

A new book from Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost is called ReJesus. It is talking about the need to Re-Jesus the church; to reclaim a clear understanding of who Jesus is, and what his role in creation is. Its really a book on Christology, which they say is, 'the study and examination of the entire phenomenon of Jesus, including his person and work and teachings, for the purpose of determining in what ways the various elements of his life and activity can be emulated by sinful human beings'.

They argue about reclaiming the humanity of Jesus. Salvation Army Doctrine number 4 says, 'We believe that in the person of Jesus Christ the Divine and human natures are united, so that he is truly and properly God and truly and properly man.' Like many theological discussions, it is about balance. When we overemphasise the divinity of Jesus, we find it harder to relate to a Jesus that ate, was tempted, got tired, and wept. The preacher's cry then to become like Jesus seems too high to ever reach. When we over emphasise the humanity of Jesus we down play the salvific act of the death and resurrection of Jesus, which by grace, through faith will give us life eternal. It's about balance.

Jesus is someone who we can follow after, who we can emulate with our life (even now), and someone we can relate to. He is also the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who takes away the sin of the world!

Jesus was no less than a revolutionary, who turned the world upside down, and had 20,000,000 followers in three hundred years. Not bad. I could only hope a couple more people read this blog :)

Christology is exciting and adventurous, as you explore the radical Jesus of the Gospels and delve deeper into the truth of who he really is...