The Manhood of Christ.

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The inscrutable mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God leads us to contemplate the perfection of the Manhood that He took. In connection with this great theme, we may first ask, "In what does manhood consist?" The Apostle Paul in expressing his closing desire for the Thessalonian saints writes as follows: — "Now the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly: and your whole spirit, and soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thess. 5: 23). Here the Apostle desires the sanctification of the whole man, and leaves us in no doubt as to what he means by a complete man: for he is not content to desire that the saints may be sanctified "wholly," but he definitely defines the component parts of a man — spirit, soul, and body.

In the light of this passage the conclusion would seem to be irresistible that, according to Scripture, spirit, soul and body, make up a man and, as J. N. Darby has said, "a man is not a man without body, soul, and spirit."* {*So true is it that a man is composed of spirit, soul and body, that we cannot recall an instance in scripture where the term "man" — meaning a human being — is applied to those who have passed by death into the intermediate state. We read indeed of "the spirits of just men made perfect," and oftentimes, of the bodies of dead men, but neither the body without the spirit and soul, or the spirit and soul without the body are designated by the term "man." 2 Kings 13: 21, and Luke 7: 12 may appear to be exceptions but are not really so. In the passage in Kings the original word for man is not the word "adam" signifying a "human being," but the word "ish" signifying a man as contrasted with a woman, and is evidently used to designate the sex of the body. In the passage In Luke it is the only occasion on which the Greek word is translated "man." In the other twelve instances of the use of the word it is translated by the word "dead," It means simply one that is dead.} The above passage agrees with the account we have in Genesis of the creation of man. There we read "Jehovah Elohim formed man, dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Gen. 2: 7. N. Tr.). Does this not teach that as to the material part of man — the body — he was formed from the dust of the ground: then, the body having been formed, God communicated life by breathing into his nostrils the breath of life. This surely is the spiritual, or immaterial, part of man which he received direct from God.

"The preacher " in speaking of death also refers to the two parts of man — the material and the spiritual — when he says, "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it" (Eccles. 12: 7). Again Elihu refers to the material and the spiritual when speaking of God, he says, "If He set his heart upon man, if He gather unto Himself his spirit and his breath, all flesh shall perish together, and man shall return again unto dust" (Job 34: 14, 15). This Scripture gives us further light inasmuch as the spirit is linked with the thought of breath, suggesting that the breath of life, in Genesis 2: 7, is the spirit of a man.

Thus by the communication of his spirit directly from God, man became a living soul, the body forming the material part, and the spirit and soul the spiritual part of a man.* {*We need not puzzle ourselves by attempting to draw a hard and fast line between "spirit" and "soul." Together they form the immaterial part of a man and, though for a time, they may be separated from the body at death yet they are not separated from one another, any more than the joints and marrow of the body, or the thoughts and intents of the heart. Yet such is the searching character of the Word of God. that it can distinguish between things so intimately connected that they cannot be separated, (Heb. 4: 12).}

Moreover it is clear that the spirit is the higher part of a man by which he is set in responsibility to God, and being such, may we not say that the spirit of a man is the distinctive and most important part of a man, that which is most necessary to constitute him a man as distinct from the animal creation (See Eccles. 3: 21). If then the Son becomes Man it is surely to become a true Man, spirit, soul and body, for, as Scripture says "in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren" (Heb. 2: 17). But on such a holy theme we are not left to draw our own conclusions, for in Scripture we find every component of man ascribed to the Son as Man. Let us quote some of these Scriptures: —

As to the body, the Lord can say,

"She hath poured this ointment on my body" — Matt. 26: 12.

He refers to "the temple of His body" — John 2: 21.

He can say "A body hast Thou prepared Me" — Heb. 10: 5.

Then we read of "The offering of His body — Heb. 10: 10.

Again we read, "His own self bare our sins in His own body" — 1 Peter 2: 24.

As to the spirit (pneuma) we read,

He "waxed strong in spirit" — Luke 2: 40.

He "perceived in His spirit" — Mark 2: 8.

"He sighed deeply in His spirit — Mark 8: 12.

He "rejoiced in spirit" — Luke 10: 21.

"He groaned in the spirit" — John 11: 33.

"He was troubled in spirit" — John 13: 21.

"He delivered up His spirit" — John 19: 30. Again He can say.

"Into Thy hands I commend my spirit" — Luke 23: 46.

As to the soul (psuche), He can say,

"My soul is exceedingly sorrowful" — Matt. 26: 38.

"Now is my soul troubled" — John 12: 27. And it is written

"Thou wilt not leave my soul in hades " — Acts 2: 27: and again

"His soul was not left in Hades" — Acts 2: 31.

These then are some of the Scriptures that directly speak of the spirit, soul, and body, in connection with the Manhood of our Lord. There are however other Scriptures which involve body, and spirit, and soul, without using these words, to which we may briefly refer: —

As to His spirit — the higher part of man, by which man is constituted an intelligent being in responsibility to God — we read that in childhood, He was "filled with wisdom," and again that He "increased in wisdom" (Luke 2: 40, 52). Wisdom surely refers to the intelligent spirit of a man. We know too, that "in Him dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily"; but here was something very different, for who could connect increase" with the "fulness of the Godhead"? This surely is spirit with the characteristics that are proper to the spirit of a man. Again, in His pathway through this world, how constantly the Lord is found in prayer: further, at the last supper He can say, "with desire I have desired to eat this passover:" in the Garden He is seen in an agony of conflict, but submits to the Father's will. Again we ask, Is not prayer, and desire, and conflict, and submission connected with the spirit, and characteristic of the spirit of a man in connection with his God? As to His soul — with which we connect the emotions and affections — we read of the Lord being moved with compassion, weeping over Jerusalem, weeping at the grave, at times moved with indignation, and looking upon His hypocritical opposers with anger. Again we ask, Do not compassion and weeping, indignation and anger express the deep feelings of a human soul?

As to His holy body. It is conceived in the womb of the virgin. When born the babe was laid in the manger, circumcised the eighth day; fed at the breasts of a human Mother (Luke 11: 27); carried in the arms of Simeon. He grew in body from infancy to youth, and from youth to manhood. We read of the Lord eating and drinking, both before and after the resurrection. He hungers in the wilderness, and thirsts on the Cross. He is weary at the well, and sleeps in the boat. Birth and growth, eating and drinking, hunger and thirst, weariness and sleep, are essentially connected with the human body and, being presented in connection with the body of the Lord, prove how real was the body He took, and how truly marked by all that is characteristic of the human body, sin apart.

What, we may ask, is the plain force of these Scriptures that, directly or indirectly, refer to spirit, soul, and body, in connection with our Lord's Manhood? What is the impression that they are intended to convey to our minds? What is the truth they teach? Is it not that the perfect Manhood of Christ comprised all three — spirit, soul and body — each possessing all the characteristics that are proper to a perfect Man in a fallen world. Thus, "in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren." (Heb. 2: 17).

Furthermore we judge that Scripture distinguishes between "personality" — the conscious "I" — and spirit, soul and body inasmuch as it does not definitely, and much less exclusively, identify personality with any one of the three. We read that "The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets" (1 Cor. 14: 32). We have the verse in the Old Testament which says, "He that ruleth his spirit" (Prov. 16: 32). In connection with the soul, David said, "I humbled my soul" (Ps. 35: 13); "I lift up my soul (Ps. 86: 4). Solomon speaks of a man destroying his soul and wronging his soul (Prov. 6: 32 and Prov. 8: 36). In reference to the body Paul can say, "I keep under my body" (l Cor. 9: 27). These and many other Scriptures of a like character, would show that in man there is the union of the material and spiritual under a single personality, as one has said, "Day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute we observe, each within himself, a central authority, directing and controlling, on the one hand, the movements and operations, of an animal frame, and on the other the faculties and efforts of an intelligent spirit, both of which find in this central authority or person their point of unity. How this can be we know not." To this we may add that if death supervenes the "I" is identified with that which is immaterial — the spirit and the soul — yet when in the body, whether now or in the resurrection state, the "I" is surely identified with spirit, soul and body.

Is not this distinction between personality and spirit. soul and body equally seen in the utterances of our Lord as Man, (as quoted on page 26), though in the Manhood of Christ, let us ever remember that the Person was Divine — the Son unchanging and unchangeable as to His Person. Though here again, we have to be on our guard, lest by the frailty of human language it might be argued that an impersonal humanity is suggested. Though in Person ever the Son, yet He personally entered into Manhood — spirit, soul, and body, and so really that, as one has said, "there was in Him nothing lacking of all that pertained to perfect manhood — that He was all and felt all that man should be and feel — made in all things like to his brethren" . . . "He was made of a woman, partook of flesh and blood — was truly the woman's seed, and from her derived the nature of a man which placed Him in relation to God and things here as a responsible Man on earth." "In becoming Man He entered into the reality of the place He took as Man" . . . "The Lord entered into all the conditions of human life, its sensibilities feelings and affections, everything dependent on man's condition and organisation apart from sin."

So near, indeed, has He come to His people that Simeon could hold in his arms the One who "hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand," and the beloved Apostle could lean on the bosom of the One who dwells in the bosom of the Father. Here we find ourselves in the presence of One who surpasses the comprehension of our minds, and yet calls forth the worship and adoration of our hearts.

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