General topic

His Holiness Pope Shenouda III explains in this lecture the meaning of the expression “the man Jesus Christ” as mentioned in the Bible, clarifying the relationship between divinity and humanity in the one person of Christ, and affirming the completeness of his human nature and its unbroken union with divinity.

Main theological points

• The Bible sometimes uses the phrase “the man Jesus Christ” to emphasize Christ’s true humanity — that he shared with us body, mind, and soul, and was a complete man in everything except sin.

• This does not mean a separation between divinity and humanity, for his divinity was never separated from his humanity for a single moment nor a twinkling of an eye, whether in his life, death, resurrection, or ascension.

• The Pope explains that Christ died in the body only, while his divinity remained united with his body and spirit; thus his redemption was infinite, because divinity gave the sacrifice its eternal, unlimited value.

• When St. Paul says: “The man Jesus Christ who gave himself as a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:5–6), it refers to the man united with divinity, since a mere man could not redeem the whole world.

• The expressions “Son of Man” and “the man Jesus Christ” are necessary because the sentence of death was upon the first man; therefore, another true man of the same human nature had to die in order to redeem it.

Unity of divinity and humanity

• The Pope shows that Scripture never separates what refers to divinity or humanity, because of the unity of the two natures in one person. The miracles Christ performed — healing the sick or raising the dead — were done by a human hand but through divine power.

• Even in moments of incarnation, baptism, or ascension, the two natures are inseparable; every act attributed to Christ comes from the incarnate divinity, the “God-Man.”

Doctrinal and spiritual teaching

• The Pope warns against the heresies that deny the completeness of Christ’s humanity or separate the two natures as if they were independent entities.

• He stresses that Christ is fully God and fully man in one person, and all his actions, whether human or divine, proceed from this complete unity.

• He clarifies that terms like “sent,” “ascended,” or “came” are used in human language for our understanding, for God neither ascends nor descends but is present everywhere.

Spiritual conclusion

• Christ, as “the man Jesus Christ,” became the only mediator between God and mankind, because in his person he united both natures, becoming the bridge that restored humanity to God.

• Understanding the union of divinity and humanity is the foundation of Orthodox faith, for it reveals the mystery of incarnation and redemption, leading believers to grasp the depth of God’s love for humankind.

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