Theology Thursday: Who is Jesus now? Christ's post-ascension body

Welcome to Theology Thursday! Theology is the study of God, his relation to the world, and our relation to him. I hope these newsletters help enhance your faith and deepen your love for God and his people, the church.

Today's question:
An MCCer asked: Is Jesus still fully human and fully divine, or is he only divine since he ascended?

Pastor Brady's thoughts:
Great question! While we affirm a trinitarian understanding of God - God is three-in-one, without division, without change, and without separation: Father, Son, Spirit  - the exact nature of Jesus’ physical embodiment before, during, and after his earthly life requires a close reading of scripture to grasp what is going on and how it contributes to our view of him and his work.

Just to make sure we’re all on the same page, Jesus has always been God. He was not created, he is eternal, and he was present and active alongside the Father and Holy Spirit in the creation of the world. Here’s Colossians 1:15-17:

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

And Hebrews 1:2:

…but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.

So, Jesus did not become God when he was born as a baby boy. He has always been God. When he entered into our world that first Christmas, he became God in the flesh. Here’s John 1:14:

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

And Colossians 2:9: For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form…

This is why the theological idea of “incarnation” is so important. Jesus wasn’t created, and when he was born in Bethlehem God didn’t “adopt” him and bestow upon him special divine powers. He has always been God, and for the 33 years he walked the earth as a human he was God incarnate, a word that means the physical, bodily, human personification of a supernatural deity.

There is mystery here, but Christians believe that during Jesus’ earthly ministry he was both fully God and fully human. That’s hard for us to grasp, but it matters a great deal. Jesus did not cease to be God when he became human, he added humanity to his already-divine nature (see John 1:1-3; Philippians 2:5-7).  

Then he was killed, then he was resurrected and lived on earth for 40 more days teaching and preparing his followers to establish his church. What was he like during those few weeks between his resurrection and return to heaven?  

Luke 24:39 and John 20:27 tell us that Jesus rose from the dead with a physical body - he wasn’t just a spirit or some kind of hologram, but a man. The disciples touched him, he ate food, and his flesh still bore the scars of his torture and crucifixion. Yet, he also seemed to be more than merely physical as we know it now. John 20:19 presents a scene where the post-resurrection Jesus suddenly appears to his disciples in a room with locked doors. Somehow, he passed through walls. In Luke 24:13-35, on the road to Emmaus with two of his disciples, he simply vanishes right before their eyes. As I said, there is some mystery here. And that’s ok.  

Though still a man, Jesus’s resurrection body was and is now glorified. It’s different, better, new! Jesus’s dead body was not restored back to life like Lazurus’s was, he was raised to new life, never to die again.

That brings us to the crux of today’s question: who, or what, is Jesus now?

Acts 1:9-11 confirms that when Jesus ascended into heaven, he did so bodily. The angels (or “two men dressed in white”) told the disciples he would return “in the same way you saw him go.” This means the risen, glorified man Jesus sits even now at the right hand of the Father (Hebrews 1:3, 10:12). Philippians 3:20–21 says our future resurrection bodies will be made like Jesus’ glorious body, implying that he still has one.

Even in heaven, in his humanity he intercedes for us as our great High Priest (Hebrew 4:14-16). His continued humanity assures us that God is even now not distant from the human experience - he understands our weaknesses, our suffering, and our temptations. 1st Timothy 2:5 says, “There is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” Notice the present tense: “the man.”

In his divinity, he reigns with all authority and power. Both essences of his nature work together in perfect unity: the one person of Christ who is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

Therefore, Jesus is not just divine since his ascension. He remains eternally the God-man - fully God and fully human. This truth is not just theological detail; it is our living hope. The ascended Christ, still bearing our humanity, guarantees that humanity itself has a place in the presence of God forever.

When he returns, our bodies, too, will be resurrected and glorified; made perfect and eternal, ready and able to spend an everlasting life with our Lord and Savior.
 
TO KNOW GOD AND TO MAKE HIM KNOWN!
- Pastor Brady

Have a question for Theology Thursday? Send an email to office@minierchristian.org and we'll respond, or we'll include in a future Theology Thursday Buffet.