Jesus: God or Man?
25 August 2024
After publishing my article "The Crucifixion of Sin", I received several questions asking whether I believe Jesus was God or man. This question has been at the heart of Christian reflection from the earliest days of the Church. Let us turn to Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Catholic Church to reflect on this profound mystery of faith.
The Witness of Scripture
St. John opens his Gospel with words that leave little room for doubt:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.”
John 1:1–3
The Church has always understood “the Word” to be Jesus Christ. He is not merely close to God; He is God. As stated in my earlier article "I am and ॐ" Jesus is part of the Holy Trinity and is the Alpha and the Omega.
True God and True Man
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches clearly:
“Jesus Christ is true God and true man.”
CCC 464
The Incarnation does not mean that Jesus was partly divine and partly human, nor a confused mixture of the two. He remained fully God while becoming fully man.
At the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD, the Church proclaimed that Mary is truly the Mother of God—not because Jesus’ divinity began with her, but because the eternal Son of God took flesh in her womb (CCC 466).
Jesus did not begin to exist at His human birth. As St. John reminds us, “In the beginning… He was with God and He was God.”
How Human Was Jesus?
If Jesus is God, how fully human could He truly be?
St. Paul gives us a profound insight:
“Though he was in the form of God… he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave.”
Philippians 2:6–8
In becoming human, Jesus did not cling to His divine privileges. He chose to live without exercising His divine power. He was born as a human being, with a true human soul, intellect, and will—like us in all things except sin.
Even His knowledge was lived in a human way. Jesus Himself says:
“About that day and hour no one knows… neither the Son, but only the Father.”
Matthew 24:36; Mark 13:32
The Catechism explains that while Jesus possessed divine wisdom, He chose not to reveal or exercise certain knowledge during His earthly life (CCC 474). His mission was not to reveal everything, but what was necessary for our salvation.
Jesus’ Human Experience
The Church teaches that Jesus truly shared our human condition:
“He worked with human hands; he thought with a human mind. He acted with a human will, and with a human heart he loved.”
CCC 470
Jesus did not merely appear human; He lived a genuinely human life. He grew, learned, and experienced the limits of human existence:
“Jesus increased in wisdom and in years.”
Luke 2:52
We see this human growth in moments such as His dialogue with the teachers in the Temple at the age of twelve (Luke 2:46), and when He asked His disciples,
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
Matthew 16:13; Mark 8:27; Luke 9:18
Miracles and the Power of the Holy Spirit
Although Jesus is truly God, during His earthly life He did not act by drawing independently on His divine power. Having “emptied Himself,” He chose to live in complete dependence on the Father and in full openness to the Holy Spirit.
Jesus’ public ministry begins only after the Holy Spirit descends upon Him at His baptism:
“The Holy Spirit descended upon him… and Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan.”
Luke 3:22; 4:1
From that moment onward, Jesus preached, healed, and performed miracles through the power of the Holy Spirit. He Himself makes this clear:
“If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
Matthew 12:28
His miracles were not displays of divine power imposed from above, but signs of what God accomplishes through a human life perfectly surrendered to the Spirit.
Why Did God Become Man?
The mission of Jesus was threefold: Prophet, Priest, and King.
Jesus the Prophet
Only God Himself could fully reveal the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus tells us:
“No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.”
John 3:13
While the Law given through Moses remained holy, it was often reduced to strict observance. Jesus restored its true meaning by teaching the spirit of the Law rather than merely its letter (Matthew 5:18).
Jesus the High Priest
Jesus offered Himself freely for the salvation of all humanity. As High Priest, He became both the one who offers the sacrifice and the sacrifice itself—the Lamb of God.
“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done.”
Luke 22:42
His sacrifice was meaningful because it was freely accepted, offered out of love for the Father and for all humanity.
Jesus the King
The kingship of Jesus is not one of domination, but of service:
“The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.”
Matthew 20:26–28
By His death and resurrection, Jesus reigns as King of all creation, drawing all people to Himself through love and service.
Conclusion
So, is Jesus God or Man?
He is 100% God and 100% Man.
By living fully as a man—dependent on the Holy Spirit—Jesus showed us that holiness and obedience are possible for every human being through grace. As King and Judge, He understands us not from a distance, but from lived experience.
“He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.”
Philippians 2:8
In John 14, Jesus teaches that if we abide in His word, the Holy Spirit will dwell in us. He also makes a remarkable promise:
“The one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these.”
John 14:12
Whatever Jesus did during His earthly life, He assures us that we too can share in through the power of the Holy Spirit. The call of the Christian life is not only to believe in Him, but to live as He lived—guided, strengthened, and transformed by that same Spirit.
References
- Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. © 1989 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) Part One, Section Two, Chapter Two, Article 3
- Understanding the Bible - I am and ॐ
- Understanding the Bible - The Crucifixion of Sin
