GLEANINGS — November 23, A.D. 2014                                                                                                               Sui Generis: One of a Kind

In a few weeks, Christians all over the world once again will be observing the nativity of the Lord Jesus Christ. The festive season which some call Advent and others call Christmastime celebrates the incarnation of the Son of God, that is His taking on a true human nature. 
Sometimes zeal to affirm that Jesus became like us (He did!) and that that He fully identified with His elect (He did!) has beguiled Christians into overlooking the uniqueness of Jesus' humanity. The Gospel accounts of what is called the transfiguration give us an opportunity to look a bit deeper into the truth, essential to the faith once for all given to the saints (Jude 3), that Jesus is a true man. Yet, He is a man unlike all other men.
It is of utmost importance to affirm at the outset the Bible's clear teaching that Jesus never sinned (Isaiah 53:9, John 8:29, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 1:22, Hebrews 4:15, 1 John 3:5). Recorded under the Holy Spirit's inspiration by all the Gospel writers except John, the transfiguration provides a temporary glimpse of Christ's dazzling, holy purity.
We have another example of the exacting inerrancy of Scripture in the earliest promise of His coming (Genesis 3:15) wherein He is designated the Seed of the woman Who will come to crush the serpent's head. Scripture ordinarily traces descent  by the masculine lineage. This designation is very important, because Jesus is not reckoned to be "in Adam" as are all other human beings. 
So by later assuring us of His virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:18, Luke 1:26ff) the Holy Spirit inspired Word of God carefully excludes Christ covenantally from Adamic descent. Even though through His mother He is biologically descended from Adam (Luke 3:38), He had no biological father.
Jesus the last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45), not reckoned as sharing in original sin nor committing any sin of His own, is again shown to be unique when His physical appearance is altered on a mountain in Judea, as witnessed by three of His disciples. Moses (representing the Law) and Elijah (representing the Prophets) appear on the mountain as well. But then we see clearly that Jesus is one of a kind among men, not only because of His sinlessness, but due to His stature and preeminence:
"...A voice came out of the cloud, saying, 'This is My beloved Son. Hear Him! When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone (cf. Luke 9:35,36). 
Not the foreshadowing deliverer of God's ancient people from Egypt, not the one in whose fiery, prophetic spirit came John the forerunning baptizer, not the divinely commended Noah, Job, and Daniel (Ezekiel 14:14, 20), not any other saints of old, nor His blessed mother nor His blessed step-father, nor any of His apostles nor any other man or woman is of the exact same kind, or as worthy as Him!
The transfiguration did not permanently alter Christ's humanity. After it occured, with His disciples He came down from the mountain and resumed His ministry in the state of humiliation. Even in that state, His works and words were unlike those of any other (John 7:46, 21:25). 
Is it wise to assume that to have been in His presence while He was here on Earth in that humble state would have been like being in the presence of any other man? In this writer's opinion, we should be very careful here. What would ordinary matters like "body language," facial expressions, attitudes, and expressed emotion look like in a Man utterly without sin, and greater than any other human being? Perhaps we should attribute the inability of His contemporaries to see the unique humanity of Jesus as due only in part to His veiling of Himself, but even more so to their dullness and hardness of heart.