Question:  Hi, Greg

            I have a four-fold question for you about the dual nature of Our Lord, Jesus Christ:

1.      When Jesus, on the cross, said He committed His “spirit” to the Father, was it the “human spirit” that was committed?

2.      Was it the Divine Attribute of Christ that went to Paradise (Abraham’s bosom) and took those souls to heaven?

3.      When Jesus’ body was resurrected, was it His “human spirit” in heaven that returned and entered the physical body?

4.      When this happened, did His Divine part enter the resurrected Jesus?

Thanks in advance, you are doing a tremendous service.

            Grev

Answer:  Dear Grev,

            The Incarnation, that God in the person of Jesus came to be one of us, teaches us that Jesus is truly God and truly human.  Yet he is not two persons, but only one.  Within Jesus there is a perfect divine nature and a truly human nature.

            This issue was a battle in the early church – as heretics and false teachers twisted and sought to change the faith once and for all delivered to the saints.  The Athanasian Creed teaches that the two natures – divine and human – are united in one person in such a way that they do not contaminate or change the other, or mix the two into something altogether different.

            Oil and water in a glass might be an analogy.  They don’t mix.  Each remains intact in the glass; each maintains its own distinct properties – although they are in one glass container.  As Son of God, Jesus is God from eternity – and God never stops being God.  But the Son of God was not always human – he begins his human life at a specific point in time, when the virgin Mary conceives.  From that point on, the Son of God – now referred to as Jesus – is both divine and human.  Both natures are forever united in a single person.

            Thus, to your specific questions, when Jesus committed his spirit at death, it was the human spirit.  The divine “part” of Jesus did not die, as God does not die.  When his body was resurrected, it was glorified, as Paul tells us ours will be (see 1 Corinthians 15).

His body, once mortal and subject to death, was made immortal – eternal.  But still a body.  He still has that body, and of course he is “still” God (always was, always will be – the same yesterday, today and forever), for he is forever Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior 

            In his precious name,

            Greg Albrecht