Jesus was Human

The apostle John wrote the gospel and three letters that bear his name to testify about
the things that he’d seen and heard concerning Jesus, the Word of Life. The fact that
Jesus, the Son of God, was human, is verified by “the disciple Jesus loved” because
he was an eyewitness to all that Jesus did and said.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory,
glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1,14 ESV)
First John starts almost identically to the gospel of John. ““That which was from the
beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked
upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life” (1 John 1:1 ESV)
In this opening verse, John affirms the incarnation of Christ through three physical
senses: hearing, seeing, and touching.

John, along with the other apostles, heard Jesus speak on many things related to the
kingdom of heaven. They heard His teaching, like the Sermon on the Mount, His
parables, His answers to questions from honest seekers of truth as well as His
detractors. In every case, they heard Jesus answer them well. Jesus answered their
many questions. They heard things they would have preferred not to hear, such as
Jesus’ warnings about the fate that awaited Him at the hands of His enemies. After the
resurrection, they remembered things Jesus had previously told them (John 2:22).
The apostles not only heard Jesus, but they saw Him with their “own eyes.” They
witnessed His mighty works, the miracles of healing, casting out unclean spirits, and
raising the dead. Besides those wonders, three of them—Peter, James, and John—
saw Jesus transfigured before them (Matt.17:2). It is to this miraculous revelation that
John speaks of when he says, “we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from
the Father.”

Finally, John states that he and the other apostles touched Jesus. This claim is the
clincher that Jesus was human. If they had only heard Jesus, doubters might say that
they merely heard a voice. Even the claim that they saw Jesus may not have been
enough to convince the non-believer, since they could offer the counterclaim that the
apostles saw a vision, but not a real, corporeal human being. But the claim by John
that they touched Jesus seals it. He testified to the truth that Jesus became flesh
(John 1:14). He also testified to the resurrection since they had opportunity to place
their hands in His wounds (John 20:27).

Why did John testify to these matters so strongly? Because many deceivers had gone
out denying that Jesus came in the flesh (2 John 7). These false teachers threatened
the faith of Christians by teaching doctrines contrary to the apostle’s teaching. Like
any good shepherd, John was trying to protect his sheep

The good news of the gospel is that God became flesh (John 1:14), died for us, and
was resurrected to the glory of God and for our eternal salvation. Let our faith never be
shaken from these great and foundational truths!
– Kurt Paquette