The Divine Necessity that Jesus Be God and Man

Our human nature was profoundly blessed by Christ’s human nature. We see this not only in the Savior’s active fulfilling of God’s Law by facing down temptation (see, for example, the precious article in this series), but also in these wonderfully comforting verses from the book of Hebrews:
He did not take to himself the nature of angels; but He assumed to Himself the nature of the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things it was fitting that He be made like His brothers, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in all things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered being tempted, He is able to minister to them who are tempted (Hebrews 2:16–18).
We do not have a high priest who cannot be touched by the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:15–16).
These verses comfort us with some great truths about our Savior:
First, we are taught here that we are joined to the divine through the nature we hold in common with Christ. It is important to realize and believe that this truth is made possible on account of Christ’s incarnation. Though sin has not entered His flesh, His human nature is not different from ours as though He were wearing some different, strange flesh that is foreign to our own. Christ’s flesh is the same as our flesh in its essential quality. Since Jesus is true man, He has the appearance of a real man, which we will see one day with our own eyes at the resurrection.
The relationship that the divine Christ established with His human nature at His incarnation has been compared to the relationship existing between heat and iron: heat penetrates the iron just as the divine nature penetrates and occupies the human nature. The qualities of neither nature are compromised nor changed.
Therefore, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and very God, has joined Himself closely to the human nature, and since He shared this same human nature with us by faith, we are also joined to His divine nature. Hilary, one of our Church Fathers, said it well: “Through the assumption of the body we might be in the Son of God in the same way that the branch is in the vine…” (Quoted in Chemnitz, The Two Natures of Christ, J. Preus, 1971; p. 151).
Second, a heavenly blessing is revealed in these verses from Hebrews, where we find a definition of worship: “Let us approach with faith unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (4:16). One of the Psalms declares that God’s children will worship Him because, “He will deliver the needy when he cries, the poor also, and him who has no helper” (Psalm 72:12).
When we worship God, it is important that we connect Christ’s sympathetic response to our need with the fact of His own suffering and death. Jesus knows about our situation from His own human experience on earth, as well as through His divine omniscience. The Lord experienced all the trials, burdens, temptations, tears and suffering in this world according to both natures. When we approach Christ Jesus in worship, we believe that the God–Man will hear us, will care about us and will help us.
Finally, these verses from Hebrews comfort us in the important matter of our prayer life because of our Savior’s divine and human nature. We can take courage especially in the words where Jesus invites us through the holy writer to “come boldly to the throne of grace.” The believer is encouraged to focus attention on Christ Himself, not on our faith. We can come boldly because we direct our prayers to our Helper, who cares for us.
The example of the disciples in the boat during a storm on the Sea of Galilee reminds us that their feelings may well have been at the bottom of the lake, but they directed their faith and prayers to the Savior who was with them in the same boat, “Lord, save us, lest we perish.” We do well to distinguish between our faith in God’s promises and our feelings, even when we have joyous feelings resulting from all that Jesus Christ has done for us! Christ and Him crucified, not just faith itself, is the object of our faith and the source of our salvation.
James Olsen is an ELS pastor emeritus living in Ontario, Wisconsin.