This time last week I was enjoying a beautiful view over the Brecon Beacons. The view at the moment is slightly less impressive- I’m trying to get my office ready for the visit of the Manse electricians over the next few weeks so I am sitting amidst a mass of books and boxes. But I have had another encouraging week of sabbatical- it was lovely to spend time with good friends down in Colchester (including various energetic games of touch rugby with their four boys!) and I’ve again enjoyed the chance to do more reading, thinking and praying than is possible in a normal week. And victory in the Test Match was a good thing as well…

Much of my thinking this week has been on the person of Jesus. I fear that we have sometimes become a little bit simplistic in our thinking about Jesus. Perhaps because of the battles with liberals who were denying the deity of Christ in the 1970s we tend to spend most of our time reflecting on things such as the miracles of Jesus and saying- “This shows that he is God.” Leaving aside the problem with that (which is well expressed by Christopher Ash) the danger is that we miss out on the rich nuances of the Biblical witness to Jesus that should lead us to worship Him more fully.

One sermon and two books have helped me think through the wonder of the person of Jesus. Last Sunday I decided to go to Colchester via Cambridge (a bit of a detour…) and spent the morning at Eden Baptist Church. It was good to hear Julian Hardyman preach on Colossians 1:15-20. Here the emphasis is on the divinity of Christ (“the colossus of the universe”) as the one through whom all things in creation have been made- including us. As Julian opened up the glories of the cosmic Christ I found his application compelling- “How can we ignore him? How can we see him as unimportant? How can we see anything as more important than him? How can anything matter more to us than following him? What pathetic distractions we have…” It is worth a listen…

Don Carson’s recent book Jesus the Son of God explores the way in which the title “Son of God” is used in the Gospels. In part it is his attempt to handle questions that have arisen as to how the title should be translated when working in language groups which are dominated by Muslims given that many in Islam think the concept of Sonship means that Christians believe Jesus is the result of a relationship between God and Mary. Carson argues that the text must still be translated using the language of Sonship but that it may be wise to publish explanatory notes to go alongside the text.

The most important reminder for me, though, and perhaps for other preachers is that we need to observe carefully the different ways in which the “Son of God” term is used. It doesn’t just refer to the second person of the Trinity. Angels, Israel, Christians today and particularly Israel’s King in the line of David(Psalm 2, 2 Samuel 7:14) are all referred to as sons of God. I remember hearing Mark 1:1 preached (The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God) and the preacher emphasised that Mark was telling us that Jesus was divine. I’m not sure that was right: I think it is more likely that Mark was telling us that Jesus was God’s King. Carson is very helpful as to why the King is known as God’s Son. In ancient days sons tended to do what their father did (a carpenter’s son would become a carpenter) so the point is that the King as God’s Son should rule in a similar manner (with a concern for justice and so on) that the Father has. Of course other passages (particularly in John’s Gospel) are talking about Jesus as the eternal divine Son of the Father. We need to be careful to work out from the context what precisely each writer is communicating by his use of the term in each passage.

You might be reading this and thinking- Why does it matter? The danger it seems to me is that in flattening everything down to “This shows that Jesus is God” we miss out on the richness of Jesus’ humanity. This has been brought home to me powerfully this week by Bruce Ware’s book The Man Christ Jesus. This is the best book that I have read for a long time (and I’m seemingly not the only one who thinks that.) It is a short and readable book that explains the humanity of Christ. I’ve no doubt that it has changed significantly and helpfully the way that I think about Jesus. Whilst not in any sense at all denying the divinity of Jesus, Ware argues that “when it comes to the day-to-day obedience and ministry of Jesus, the New Testament puts greater stress on his humanity.” This perspective makes sense of so many passages that may have seemed confusing in the past. Why do the Gospels put so much emphasis on Jesus being anointed with the Spirit when surely if he is already God he doesn’t need the Spirit? If Jesus is God and is perfect why does he need to learn obedience as Hebrews says? If Jesus is God why does he need to grow in wisdom and knowledge as Luke’s Gospel tells us? If Jesus is God why does he only gain all authority in heaven and earth after his resurrection as Matthew 28 says? Ware answers all of these questions by emphasising that, though God, Jesus essentially functions as a man who grows through meditating God’s Word, depends upon God in prayer and is empowered by the Spirit.

The practical application of that is varied. Ware says that one of his purposes in writing was because he thought many Christians struggled to see Jesus as a helpful example for them. After all, we think, Jesus is God so it must have been easy for him to live the life that he did. But in emphasising the Biblical witness to Jesus as a Spirit empowered man (see for instance Isaiah 11,42,61 and Acts 10:38) Jesus is more like us. Thus he is really able to sympathise with us and we, enabled by the same Spirit, are really able to walk in his steps. For myself thinking of Jesus’ human life has led me to a much greater appreciation of his obedience and suffering. Ware tells us to “Marvel at this humble Son, who though fully God, accepted living life as a man, dependent upon the Spirit each day of his life.” My hope is that a week considering these issues will lead to a greater sense of marvelling at the glory and love of the God-man Jesus Christ.